


Comfort (At Your Fingertips)

by SylviaoftheDepths



Series: Family Is What You Make Of It (Not What Blood Makes of You) (A Warm Blanket Around Your Soul) [2]
Category: K-pop, The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, Aroace Lee Sangyeon, Aromantic Kim Sunwoo, Asexual Choi Chanhee | New, Asexual Kim Younghoon, Asexual Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae, Asexual Lee Juyeon, Asexual Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Asexual Relationship, Choi Chanhee | New-centric, Coffee Shops, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Meetings, Fluff, Found Family, Gay Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall, Gay Ji Changmin, Gay Son Youngjae | Eric, Gentle Kissing, Implied Sexual Content, Insecurity, Internal Conflict, Internal Monologue, Internalized Homophobia, Kim Younghoon-centric, LGBTQ Themes, Light Angst, Mild Language, Moon Hyungseo | Kevin-centric, Multi, Nonbinary Bae Joonyoung | Jacob, Polyamory, Queerplatonic Relationships, Single Parents, Straight Ju Haknyeon, Surprise Kissing, The Author Regrets Everything, Vmin Bingo 2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SylviaoftheDepths/pseuds/SylviaoftheDepths
Summary: Sunwoo is a brat and does God's work, because if everyone around him is being hella childish, someone has to step up and be the mature one, for once.Or:Chanhee thinks too much, Younghoon is either nervous, cute, or a fully functioning hyung, and Kevin just moved and he's already crushing on several people at once, in several different ways. Everyone else is there, doing their own thing, and Sunwoo is the one moving everything along behind the scenes.(Or: How The Boyz finally come together.)
Relationships: Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Kim Gunji | Sam Kim, Choi Chanhee | New & Kim Younghoon, Choi Chanhee | New & Kim Younghoon & Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Choi Chanhee | New/Kim Younghoon, Choi Chanhee | New/Kim Younghoon/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Choi Chanhee | New/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall & Kim Sunwoo, Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall/Ji Changmin | Q, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Jung Yein/Ju Haknyeon, Kim Geonhak | Leedo/Kim Sunwoo, Kim Geonhak | Leedo/Lee Juyeon (The Boyz), Kim Sunwoo & Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae, Kim Sunwoo/Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae, Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin, Kim Younghoon & Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall, Kim Younghoon & Kim Sunwoo (The Boyz), Kim Younghoon & Kim Sunwoo (The Boyz) & Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall, Kim Younghoon/Son Youngjae | Eric, Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Lee Jeno/Son Youngjae | Eric, Past Lee Sangyeon/Kim Youngjo | Ravn
Series: Family Is What You Make Of It (Not What Blood Makes of You) (A Warm Blanket Around Your Soul) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852039
Comments: 49
Kudos: 20
Collections: Fluff 2020: A Multifandom Fluff Meme, Gen and Aro Prompts (Any fandom), The Alphabet Challenge, Vmin Bingo Fest 2020





	1. Starting Phase: Couth

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [27twinsister](https://archiveofourown.org/users/27twinsister/pseuds/27twinsister) in the [GenAndAroPrompts](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GenAndAroPrompts) collection. 
  * In response to a prompt by [TheRainRogue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRainRogue/pseuds/TheRainRogue) in the [TheAlphabetChallenge](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TheAlphabetChallenge) collection. 



> Um, so. I took up a "Coffee shop AU that ends in a queer platonic relationship rather than a romantic one" prompt and it was totally supposed to be just a simple coffee shop AU, cute and done!
> 
> ... And then this happened.
> 
> You see, I have this thing where, since The Boyz is a relatively smaller fandom on Archive, I wanted to be able to take it upon myself to populate some of the relationship tags that only had one story under them! (I may have made as many of those tags as I populated...) So I brought up all my characters and then...
> 
> This happened.
> 
> So... enjoy? I promise, it isn't as complicated as the tags make it seem! I think. Probably...
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> Any fandom!  
> You know like, classic Coffee Shop AU? You know how it ends with the characters being in love and all that? Yeah, that.  
> EXCEPT they end up either in a queerplatonic relationship (QPR) or just friends and earlier they were just too shy to talk to each other for more than 5 seconds. Just like, make them both awkward introverts. And they aren’t dating (QPRs are different.)
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> [ C ]
> 
> Possible words;  
> care, carnival, catastrophe,  
> cat, cop, Christmas,  
> etc.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Comfort is the effort of a dozen instances, all threading together into one warm blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah~, so this is a bit of a different update! I did some statistical thinking in my head and realized that the chapters didn't really match the format I set up, so I figured there had to actually be another, genuine starting phase. So, although it probably doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things beyond my stupid stubbornness, I decided to go for it and make up a new starting phase. I didn't really have anything prepared and I stayed up all night for this, so it may be nonsense and I think it's definitely in a completely different tone than the rest of the story, but I hope it's okay! I'll come back and edit the whole thing later, for now, I'm so tired, I'm going to catch some sleep after this gets posted!
> 
> To anyone not interested in or new to the K-Pop fandom, here are some terms/facts to help you understand what's going on!:  
> • In Korea, last name comes first  
> • -yah: A suffix used for those you're close to of the same age or younger than you, used when the name ends in a vowel

When Kim Taehyung is eighteen, his parents realize he’s a bit different and send him to America to study so he can discover himself there. That’s the nice way of sounding it. The less polite version is that his parents, filthy rich, can’t exactly come around to the fact that he insists he likes men and send him to America so they don’t have to deal with him while he’s in college and will undoubtedly make terrible decisions. Likely they’re hoping he’ll “come to his senses”, but Taehyung doesn’t know why they’d send him to America for that, of all places.

When Taehyung is nineteen, he meets tragic music students Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok who are reeling from the death of the third in their relationship, barely able to make ends meet and with her newborn, her final gift to them. Suh Youngho is his name, because her surname had been Suh, and they don’t want that to change for him, even if his remaining parent, legally, is a Jung.

When Taehyung is twenty, they collectively make the decision that it’s better for everyone if Taehyung takes the child. They go meet Jeon Jeongguk, who helps them with the process and becomes a close friend of theirs while it goes on.

The process takes a bit longer, Jeongguk says, because Taehyung is single, in college in a foreign country. In walks Park Jimin, when Taehyung is twenty-one.

Park Jimin complicates things.

Park Jimin makes everything better.

Park Jimin absolutely adores Youngho.

Taehyung ends up marrying Jimin when he’s twenty-two and graduating undergraduate college. It finalizes the process, drawn longer by the circumstances, and then they’re a family, three Suhs, one Min, one Jung, and one Jeon, simply by association.

Taehyung tells his parents he’s staying for graduate studies, which undoubtedly relieves them as they throw more money at him and tell him okay, but his older brother, Kim Namjoon, tries not to reveal this, even if he knows Taehyung already knows. His oldest brother, Kim Seokjin, ends up joking loudly about it anyway, to Namjoon’s utmost chagrin, and it’s this honesty and family dynamic that hasn’t changed once throughout all of Taehyung’s life and his parents’ increasing frustration with him, that leads him to tell them about the new developments in his life, over four years. It’s a lot to take in, for them, but by the end of the acclimation process, both his brothers are in love with Jimin and Youngho and are determined to protect them from their parents when Taehyung inevitably has to return.

Yoongi and Hoseok have to leave back to Korea after graduation, so they can put their skills to use and try to make a living somehow, and the subsequent summer is full of happy memories and tears and promises. They leave Taehyung, Jimin, Youngho, and Jeongguk in the airport in America and are welcomed back to Korea by Seokjin and Namjoon. His brothers help him secretly invest, when he gets word that they’ve both joined a company called Big Hit, and they often check in on them and Youngho, despite their increasingly busy schedules.

Taehyung meets more friends in graduate school, two of which are in similar circumstances to him, and he thrives. Youngho grows adorable and loved and outgoing, Jimin smiles shy and happy and at times heart-stoppingly sexy and Taehyung falls more in love with him everyday, and the three close friends he’s made in America are his validation, his reassurance when things get tough, and the safety circle he’s never had in Korea.

When Taehyung is twenty-six, he and Jimin come home to Korea with jobs with his two friends, working from the bottom up, and his parents are furious to see what he’s done with himself in his eight years in America. As always, his brothers step in to mediate with a ferocity that they usually hold in their reserves for moments like these, and his parents can’t do anything to them anyways. Not anymore.

This, Taehyung finally knows at twenty-six, in a room with Yoongi and Hoseok, who’ve now become famous, Seokjin, Namjoon, Jeongguk, Jimin, and their collective child Youngho, is what family truly is, loving, accepting, happiness.

~

Heo Hyunjoon and Kim Sunwoo grow up inseparable. They’re neighbors, family friends, but only after that decisive day in nursery school, when a miniature gaggle of students try to bully Hyunjoon and Sunwoo chases them away.

“Tank’u.” Hyunjoon says, with the upfront sincerity of a two-year-old.

“‘f you hit th’m, you get ‘n troub.” Sunwoo tells him instead.

Instantly, Hyunjoon adores him.

Later, when both parents get called to the school so the issue can be discussed, they find Sunwoo glaring fiercely at them as the two notice their parents heading in the direction of the office where bad kids are sent to go to get scolded when they’ve done something bad, and Hyunjoon distracting him with easy smiles and lots of fun when they come out of the office. Their parents end up bonding after that incident, talking between each other as they take their children out to a conciliatory cotton candy trip.

And so Heo Hyunjoon and Kim Sunwoo grow up inseparable.

~

Kim Younghoon moves to a new neighborhood when he’s seven. And because he’s a good boy, he helps with the moving, of course. His dad had eyed him worriedly when he plopped a box down into his waiting arms, but it’s okay, really! His arms aren’t tired at all and that isn’t sweat on his brows! He can do this!

He ends up dropping the box as gently as he can on the top step right before the door and bending over to catch his heaving breath. The box is much heavier to carry all by himself than he thought it would be.

“Do you want help?” A voice asks. Younghoon startles. Behind him is a young boy, about four, clad in purple and prettier than a doll. He must be the neighbor.

“Um.” Younghoon says. “Maybe?”

“Cool.” The boy smiles. His cheeks are chubby and his lips plump, so his whole face lights up as he smiles and Younghoon’s heart flies out of his chest at the sight. “I’m Hyunjoon, but my nickname is Hwall!”

“I’m Younghoon.” He finds himself smiling back, patting the Hyunjoon's head and watching his eyes scrunch. “Wanna help me with this?”

The kid is only about four, so Younghoon’ll do the most of the lifting, but the fact that this small kid wants to help him is the most adorable thing ever.

“Wait,” the kid tells him seriously, despite his playful smile, “I have to call Sunwoo-yah! Sunwoo-yah has _muscles_! He’s a strong boy! We can help you together!”

And then he disappears.

Younghoon wonders how Sunwoo is, when Hyunjoon is that pretty. He takes the time Hyunjoon is gone in to wipe his face and swipe his hands over his jeans so he doesn’t get too sweaty by the time they make it up the stairs. It probably won’t be too easy trying to shuffle up the stairs with a box held between three people, he’ll probably end up carrying the entire thing up by himself. He knows because he tried to do the same with his parents earlier and his mom ended up taking the box from him and his dad halfway there, telling his dad to just give him his own box. But it’ll be worth it if he gets to play with cute kids afterwards! They can all be friends!

As it turns out, Sunwoo is a kid with a perpetual pout who introduces himself brusquely, and when Younghoon hesitantly says he doesn’t have to help after all, he turns out to be the type of kid that glares at him in challenge and says he’ll do it as Hyunjoon grins behind him.

Unexpectedly, Sunwoo ends up carrying a significant amount of weight as they head inside, although Younghoon still finds himself carrying most of it. He might actually have muscles in his four-year-old arms? Younghoon can’t see them, but he also can’t see anything other than the box and Sunwoo’s straining expression and neck. He still refuses to give up on the box when Younghoon pants out an offer to leave it to him again.

It turns out to be only Hyunjoon who gives up, not even halfway up the stairs, and then it’s Sunwoo and him carrying the box all the way up the stairs, one laborious step at a time, finally collapsing gracelessly on it as they manage to shuffle it into what’s supposed to be Younghoon’s parents’ bedroom. Younghoon and Sunwoo eye each other for a moment, sweating heavily as they lay, facing each other on the box, the corner of which is digging into each of their bodies, but neither of them really has the energy to move.

Minutes pass as they lie there, panting and fighting the urge to close their eyes and just sleep the exhaustion away against a large cardboard box and a bare wooden floor. Time slows, as they recover from what feels like they’re dying, and Younghoon can see dust particles floating in the light streaming from the window if he focuses hard enough. Finally, it’s Sunwoo who breaks the molasses, flashing a grin at him. Younghoon brightens immediately.

“High five?”

Sunwoo obliges and high fives him.

Hyunjoon shows up out of nowhere then, angelic smile in place and cool drinks in hand. “Your parents said you could be done helping now.”

When he and Sunwoo finish their drinks, the two friends take him to the neighborhood park and Younghoon finds himself falling fast into friendship with two mischievous boys.

~

In middle school, Hyunjoon is amongst the first to discover Q, a young, but talented YouTuber who posts K-Pop dance tutorials.

His friends never hear the end of it. Younghoon nods indulgently, Ju Haknyeon sighs silently, but smiles when he’s given a look, and Sunwoo sighs as loud as he can and rolls his eyes right at Hyunjoon when he’s given the same look.

Yeah, the guy is talented, but none of them need to hear about how much Hyunjoon _worships_ him.

~

“We should date.” Kim Younha ends up telling Lee Sangyeon as they walk home together one day in the middle of their freshman year of high school. Sangyeon pauses in his tracks, turns to face her, waits. “My friends keep telling me it’s weird that we’re together almost all the time, but we’re not dating.”

“We’re best friends.” Sangyeon says placatingly. It’s not the first time he’s heard this. But his friends have been making similar comments too, and the more often they make them, the more often Sangyeon wonders if they’re true. Is it really possible for a girl and boy to be so close as best friends and not have anything romantic between them? Sangyeon doesn’t feel anything for his best friend like it says in the novels, no heart beating fast, no shortness of breath, no waiting up at night wanting to see her. But maybe love crept up on them? Maybe they got so close, they didn’t realize they were in love until it already happened? Younha can see him wavering, and he can see her hesitant eyes. “Should we date?”

Younha offers him her arm in response, and Sangyeon isn’t quite sure if it’s supposed to feel different now that they’re dating, but he takes it and doesn’t let it go until he’s dropped her home, as per usual.

~

In high school, Hyunjoon ends up convincing all of them to join the dance team. None of them are quite sure how, but Younghoon finds himself joining his first physical club in his senior year along with Haknyeon, who is actually excited to join and can’t stop blabbering with Hyunjoon about the whole thing, and Sunwoo, who glares at the ground, doubting his entire existence at how easily he gives into his best friend.

They meet the captain of the dance team, Kim Geonhak, his boyfriend, vice captain Lee Juyeon, and the treasurer, Jung Yein, who Haknyeon can’t stop staring at. After he ends up showing off his self-learned break dancing skills, she can’t stop staring at him either. Younghoon, Juyeon, Hyunjoon, Sunwoo, and Geonhak end up watching as the two of them fall in love. It's a whole affair, because Yein is an idol trainee, but Haknyeon is nothing if not persistent and when they all see how deeply they've fallen for each other over the course of the rest of the year, they all pitch in to help take care of her when she's overworked and overwhelmed, even when she inevitably pulls out of school to focus on her trainee life. It isn't ideal, in the slightest, for their relationship, but Haknyeon is determined to make it work and, somehow, they do.

~

Dating isn't the end of it, Sangyeon discovers. One of Younha's friends asks if they've been on a date yet, when the break the news and everyone they know ends up cheering, "Finally!" for reasons Sangyeon, for all his stellar grades, doesn't understand, and that becomes the next thing on their new to-do list of couple things to do. It feels forced, planning an entire amusement park date full of the more romantic rides and the sweeter snacks to share between themselves, but once they actually get there, they end up forgetting everything in the face of all the fun they could have.

It's a successful date.

Younha is glowing the next week in school, and a her friends praise her for it, press her for the details which she gushes about, all the fun rides they went on, the steep drops, how much they screamed until their throats started to feel sore.

For some reason, they're not really satisfied with her story, but she has nothing else to really tell them about it when they ask if there's anything else.

"You didn't kiss him, then?"

Kiss? Sangyeon?

… She can't imagine doing that at all.

"Ah, no."

"Come on guys," her friend complains, "you've been like this since you've met, what's the point in being all shy about it now that you're dating?"

Oh, is that it? Is she being shy about it? If that's the case, all she really has to do is get it over with once, to show herself that there's nothing to really worry about.

"Do you wanna try on a dress and some makeup and accessories, maybe?"

"Ah," a distinct feeling of discomfort overtakes her, and she stands, already making a beeline for where she knows Sangyeon eats lunch with that dancer friend of his, Ji Changmin, and the quiet one, Choi Chanhee, when they're let out for lunch break, "no thank you. I'm going to go see my- my boyfriend. Bye!"

Sangyeon takes one look at her and sends Chanhee a look which ends up in Chanhee dragging a curious Changmin away as Younha sits down. "Did someone make a comment about your clothing again?"

Younha winces.

"I knew it, you were making that face. Don't mind it, you know they're just trying to- well, I don't know what they were trying to do this time, but they don't really mean anything by it."

"I know." She stares down at her lap, mulling. "It's just that sometimes I feel like I'm in the wrong body."

Sangyeon just puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sometimes he feels like he's living a life that's not his too.

~

Every time Youngho invites his parents over to his university for a meal and some family time, they unfailingly catch him staring at the beautiful, looming white structure that lays, abandoned at the corner of the campus. A couple of glances around at the time of his upcoming graduation tells them they all have the same idea. Everyone pitches in, little by little, and over the course of the month, they have the entire building bought and everything ready for Youngho to lay claim to it.

"Congratulations," they all tell him, in varying levels of softness after the graduation ceremony is over and they told him they wanted to be by the white building for pictures. "You graduated! This is our present for you coming into our lives, sweetheart."

Youngho breaks down sobbing in a way he hasn't since he was a child.

~

By the time Sangyeon and Younha have graduated, they’re happily broken up.

Younha is male, finds he’s always been, and he prefers going by Youngjo now, because his body finally feels right. Middle school was finding out that he was biologically female, high school was trying to act the part, and finally university is realizing that it was okay to be the way they were. They, because it was the same for Sangyeon, who didn’t realize he didn’t exactly feel romantic attraction in high school when they first started to date out of peer pressure, and who also didn’t realize he felt no sexual attraction as well until college.

It wasn’t a bad relationship between them, by any means, but it was hardly any different from when they were simply the best friends they are now, and the added pressure of needing to be like everyone else wasn’t exactly the most pleasant. So yes, they’re happily broken up, genuinely better off as friends, still joke together and talk together like they used to. It’s like nothing’s changed, except everything’s changed and now, if anyone tells them, “You two look good together!”, all they do is smile in response and say, “I hope we do, it’s been long years of a friendship that’s still going strong.”

~

Chanhee’s first day of university, he makes it his mission to find a coffee shop and bothers Lee Jaehyun until he relents and shows Chanhee the cafe he and Sangyeon used to go to together, before Sangyeon graduated. It’s a large, elaborately decorated white structure, and Chanhee is a little intimidated by it, questioning in the back of his mind how Sangyeon and Jaehyun ever found the courage to step in there. But then the door opens, as if inviting them in, and Chanhee lays eyes on the person who’s holding the door open for them with a welcoming smile in their direction, and Chanhee instead finds he can’t breathe for another reason, his heart racing as he stares at the man and the man stares at him back, lost in each other’s eyes, and Jaehyun snorts loudly in the background.

~

When they see their girlfriend after the surgery, in the female body she should have been born with, Bae Joonyoung finds, to their great relief, that their feelings for their girlfriend don’t change in the slightest, only growing at the sight of her bright smile.

And yeah, it was happy before, but now, it’s heaven. Joonyoung takes Kim Samantha out on dates and she wears short skirts and long earrings and grows out her hair. She smiles wide in pictures, pink lipstick, red lipstick, various shades of nude stuck on their lips after they kiss. Kim Samantha is happy in a way Kim Gunji never was and Joonyoung understands the feeling, how freeing it is to finally admit your gender and live it, so they celebrate with their girlfriend for as much and as long as possible, amusement parks, coffee shops, movies, aquariums, fancy restaurants and homey ones, everything possible before Joonyoung is called back to Korea because their grandmother is sick and their parents have decided its best if they stay in Korea just in case anything takes a turn for the worst. And Joonyoung doesn’t hesitate in saying of course, in leaving, because their girlfriend is finally in the body she deserves and they want her to spend as long as she wants discovering how it feels. They’ll see her over video chats and on holidays and they’ll get to see her happy smile and hear her happy stories and watch as she finally dresses the way she wants and that’s enough for them, as they head back to Korea with their best friend, Moon Hyungseo.


	2. Phase 0.5: Contentment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunwoo is and Jaehyun reflects. It is how it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are some more terms/facts to help you understand what's going on!:  
> • -ssi: a honorific showing respect and often used with people you aren't close enough to use other honorifics with  
> • Hyung: A term a younger male would use to refer to an older brother figure, can be used as a honorific

Sunwoo crooks his nose up into the curve of Jaehyun’s neck and breathes in deeply, eyes still closed and navy blue hoodie-covered-arms wrapped around Jaehyun’s neck, snuggling a little deeper into his place in Jaehyun’s lap. The light in the third floor library of the luxurious corner cafe run by foreign students, famous for its openly LGBTQIA+-supportive atmosphere, is bright and warm in the little sunroom alcove their little study group is settled in- Sunwoo, Jaehyun, Juyeon, Geonhak, and Park Seonghwa- and Jaehyun tightens his grip, soft through the thick material of his track pants, around Sunwoo’s waist gently in response, otherwise not looking up from the textbook-notebook combo he’s been staring at for the past two hours, red pencil spinning idly between his fingers. It’s peaceful and Sunwoo dozes as the other four study at the warm wooden table farthest to the right of the alcove, top painted green to match the green cushions of its four accompanying thin wooden chairs and green carpet of the library and radiating collected heat, for their joint class, being a good two to three years older than him.

Technically speaking, Sunwoo really doesn’t need to be there, didn’t even have to leave his dorm until early afternoon, but he’d woken up feeling a lot like he would snap at the first person who spoke up to him that morning and promptly decided he’d gone long enough without seeing Jaehyun. It had been easy as anything to text Haknyeon and Hyunjoon that he would _not_ be going out with them that morning, as per their usual routine before his Gen Psych lecture, and shut his phone off to any incoming protests, instead leaving to find Jaehyun at their usual haunt so he could drape himself over his hyung and bask in the presence that had been missing from his life a week too long.

Finals season was sucking ass for everyone equally.

But in each other's arms, Sunwoo and Jaehyun easily slip into the comfortable headspace of complete understanding they seem to have always shared with each other since the day they met and in that languid bubble of comfort, it's easy for the stresses of exams and cramming and lectures to fade, fade, fade away into the very air that changes into gentle welcome when they're together. Usually abrasive types- they're the only ones with the brightly dyed hair they sport in their whole group, dark, eye-catching maroon and blond _just_ on the side of golden, like an attestment to their personalities- they've been told by everyone they soften when they're together.

They know. It's the benefit of having someone understand your inner workings so completely. Juyeon and Geonhak know how it feels.

Seonghwa stretches out, white button-up stretching out tight from where it’s tucked into his jeans, with a sigh that manages to break Jaehyun's concentration. It speaks of completion, and Juyeon and Geonhak glance his way.

"Done?" Geonhak asks lowly, in the deep voice he is infamous for, sending a considerate glance Sunwoo's way. Jaehyun sends him a grateful smile when Sunwoo doesn't stir. Seonghwa nods, opting to stay quiet, in witness of the small exchange. His next words are a quiet whisper, but they carry clear with the restrained authority that is his signature in the steady silence of the library.

"Yeah, I think I've had enough for one day. And plus, I believe I have a class around the same time Sunwoo-ssi does? I'm going to go meet Younghoon-ssi so we can go together, you better wake Sunwoo-ssi up soon so he doesn't miss whatever it is he has." His soothing string of words is broken by an equally soothing chuckle. "Sorry for leaving you two here alone with these two lovebirds. Don't let yourselves suffer for too long, okay?"

And with that, simultaneous warm pats on Juyeon’s navy sheer silk-covered right shoulder and Geonhak's navy plaid-covered left shoulder, and a well-meaning smile Jaehyun's way, Seonghwa quietly scooches his chair back and tucks it back neatly into the table before leaving with a prim wave.

Juyeon glances at Geonhak. Geonhak smiles in a way that seems forced, in the way that it looks to anyone he's not close with, but Jaehyun, having spent enough time with him- via attempted near constant proximity to Sunwoo- to read through his quiet awkwardness, can clearly see the placating nature of it.

Juyeon and Geonhak know how it feels. But not many seem to understand that. Just like not many understand Jaehyun and Sunwoo aren't together.

Jaehyun will admit, it's a little confusing. The way Sunwoo clings to him and constantly commands his attention, even unwittingly, the way Jaehyun is quieter, more attentive with him, to the average person it clearly screams romance. It's a little tiring to correct this notion, but there's nothing wrong with making such an assumption. That is indeed how a normal, romantically involved couple would act.

Jaehyun and Sunwoo are not a romantically involved couple. But Juyeon and Geonhak are.

The way they act is akin to the difference in day and night. The confusion is perfectly natural, but the truth of the matter is that Jaehyun and Sunwoo are platonic in a way that isn't strictly unromantic and Juyeon and Geonhak are romantic in a way that usually only becomes clear with explanation and time.

Jaehyun and Sunwoo aren't friends in the usual association of the word. They aren't really friends in any unusual association of the word either. The term sits bitter and unresponsive on Jaehyun's tongue every time he considers calling them as such.

He's sure it's the same with Sunwoo too.

It's just- from the moment Chanhee had dragged him to a friendly get together way back when and Sunwoo, standing to the side of one Kim Younghoon watching the two of them painfully try and gather the courage to speak to one another, had said, brusque and uncaring, "Ah, I see what's going on here," and caught Jaehyun's amused eyes snapping in his direction, the two had instantly come together and clicked in a way that they knew would be extremely difficult to find with anyone else. It wasn't romantic, but to them, it was much deeper than anything a romance could ever afford them. It was natural, it was special, and it was theirs.

That was all there was really to be said about it.

In the same vein, Juyeon and Geonhak are rather romantic. It's not clear to the casual eye and probably even to a probing one. But to knowing eyes, the subtleties are a little more obvious.

Juyeon and Geonhak are similar in that they are both on the serious side and both tend more towards painful awkwardness than the- admittedly hard-earned and long-practiced-and-reinforced- easygoingness of the majority of their respective friend groups. But it's this that brings them together. It's the mutual understanding that they both tend to be shy that aids them in their interactions, that grounds the quiet conversations they have that are buried under all the noise that is bound to be created when their friend groups come together, that is the basis of the steady communication between them that leads to sweet scenes of them cooking breakfast in perfect tandem most mornings they manage to spend together. They don't need to be physically together to constantly be aware of each other's presence in the room, never have to question anyone that comes in what might be perceived to be a little too close, are perfectly, heart-achingly, most wonderfully romantic in their equally reserved natures.

It's Jaehyun and Sunwoo who are often third-wheeling when they're together. It's Jaehyun's heart that clenches when he sees the way they move together on study days like this, sitting a friendly distance apart, not even sneaking glances at each other, but catering to each other effortlessly regardless. It's Jaehyun Sunwoo sympathetically rolled his eyes at when he came to them in the library that morning, after walking in on Juyeon yanking a standard gray mechanical pencil from Geonhak's too-tight grip and putting a black ballpoint pen by his grasping fingers without taking a single look up from and to the left of his own textbook-notebook combo, all at a single, quiet, near imperceptible low grunt from his elder boyfriend.

Jaehyun may have been surprised when Juyeon and Geonhak came up to Sunwoo with a completely out-of-the-blue confirmation of their relationship and a proposition from their side to him, but now that Jaehyun _does_ know, it couldn't possibly be any clearer, their apparent friendship much deeper, and much more heart-wrenchingly sweet.

Juyeon gives a little start, clearly not the only one not expecting Geonhak's arm silently extending across the table and gently tapping Sunwoo awake. Sunwoo blinks and Jaehyun squeezes at his waist to help him get some feeling through his sleep-clogged brain so he doesn't just shift and settle back to sleep.

Radiating a sense of mild betrayal that is heavily tempered by the sleepy pout on his lips, Sunwoo squints up at him for his efforts and Jaehyun simply smiles, quiet, calm, and very clearly _hyung_ in a way he only really is around Sunwoo. His heart fills with more of the warm affection that's been steadily pumping through him ever since he first saw Sunwoo's face that morning for the first time since last week separated them under the threat of looming exams.

It really had been too long.

Geonhak taps once more at Sunwoo, bringing his attention to him, and then sends a clear, sidelong glance at Juyeon that both Jaehyun and Juyeon can see, but only apparently only Sunwoo can understand.

"What happened this time?" He rasps, throat scratchy with sleep, and Geonhak flushes a little and shakes his head. Jaehyun can kind of see where this is going. Juyeon, for once, still looks confused, but that's honestly a sign in and as of itself. For all his aggravating confidence and self-awareness of his good looks, Juyeon never seems to consider the effects of them, especially when he pulls a Hyunjoon and casually wears sheer silk, low cut tops and tight, tight jeans just for the sake of it. Sunwoo clears his throat, fishes for Jaehyun's phone on the table to look at the time, and then huffs. "I've got a class in, like, 40- 45? Whatever- minutes and I've got to meet up with Hak-hyung and Hwall before then, so we're gonna have to hurry it up a bit."

He turns in Jaehyun's lap to face him, expression a little mischievous even if he's still clearly trying to blink the vestiges of sleep from his eyes and Jaehyun instantly knows he's going to cause everyone a minor heart attack.

"Bye, hyung," the little rascal says, smirk playing at the edge of his lips, all confident nonchalance, "I'm going to go suck Geonhak-hyung off in the bathroom."

A startled snort jolts through Jaehyun as blood rushes clear and deep to Geonhak's face and Juyeon coughs in the too-loud way people are wont to when they're flustered by something they didn't expect to bring upon themselves and can't hide it in time. Sunwoo leaps off Jaehyun's lap, wicked and happy, and Jaehyun laughs under his breath once he gets over his shock, seeing Sunwoo insistently pull Geonhak’s unbuttoned plaid shirt so far past his hand that Geonhak has to hasten up and out of his chair to keep it from ripping.

This is exactly why they click so well. Sunwoo may be the mature one of the two of them, but Jaehyun knows the little devil for who he is and encourages every little thing he does to show it to their not-so-little circle.

"Leedo-hyung," Juyeon calls, flustered voice still a bit too loud for the atmosphere of the library, contrary to the 'Geonhak-hyung' it had been when Seonghwa was still around, and Geonhak beats back his embarrassment to stop Sunwoo from pulling at his arm so he can turn back to his dark-blue-haired boyfriend, shocked still at the table. Neither third-wheeler misses the switch, nor the silent exchange of words flowing between their gazes that brings mirroring small, happy smiles to their faces.

When he sees they're done exchanging whatever love words their gazes are communicating, Jaehyun watches Sunwoo drag Geonhak off with an impatient huff and, in the back of his mind, preens a little like he always does at the inadvertent sign that Juyeon trusts him and Sunwoo enough to call his boyfriend the special name he has for him while they're around. They know how it feels to understand each other but be misunderstood by others and that's what creates the special friendship between the four of them, where Geonhak can ask Sunwoo for sexual favors so as to not bother his asexual younger boyfriend and Juyeon can trust that nothing deeper will ever blossom between the two of them and Jaehyun can rest assured that his- partner? The love of his life? The most platonic love of his life that he can’t say is entirely unromantic, but can definitely say isn’t his soulmate the way Geonhak is Juyeon’s- oh, his _Sun_. He can rest assured that his Sun is well taken care of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, you don't know how many times my best friend had to witness me breaking down because for some reason??? Sunwoo and Hyunjae were being way~!!! too cute and I didn't know why??? And they weren't my main characters??? What was I going to do????
> 
> Gave my best friend a few headaches too.
> 
> Honestly, Sunwoo and Hyunjae were supposed to be a small little intro to queer platonic relationships, to introduce what Chanhee, Younghoon, and Kevin would be falling into, and I thought it was smart, since I could populate the Kim Sunwoo & Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae tag, no sweat! But then, well... You can see what happened here. And then I spent forever worrying if Chanhee, Younghoon, and Kevin would even seem important anymore, after this. Until, well.
> 
> I gave up and decided to make this a whole universe, everyone and everything included. So yeah, it's about Chanhee, Younghoon, and Kevin, but it's about everyone else too. (Like my best friend suggested I do, back when I was still being so stubborn and idiotic about the whole thing.)
> 
> That's the best I could do to spare my sanity.
> 
> (Also, I'm upset the Kim Geonhak | Leedo/Lee Juyeon tag got another story under it while I was waiting to post this, but whatever, I guess. I'm past complaining about what I can't control, at this point. And what I can. I try to control too much and it runs away from me. Sunwoo ran away from me, I'm so mad at him, ugh!)


	3. Phase 1: Captivation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanhee thinks too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus finally starts the Coffee Shop AU with its intended main characters~! But at this point, anyone could be a main character, really. I delve deep enough into a lot of these kids, seriously. *sigh* I wish I'd never had the thought to write Sunwoo and Hyunjae. Then all these cute things wouldn't be writing themselves for me.
> 
> Further terms for those who may be unfamiliar with certain Korean words!:  
> • Dongsaeng: A term used to refer to a younger person you are close with

The next morning finds Sunwoo stock still in his neutral-toned sheets for a good five minutes, decidedly not opening his eyes, before he makes the executive decision that Haknyeon and Hyunjoon can go without him for a while, his Jaehyun needs are much more important.

And, well, if anyone wants to survive being around him during exam season, they better hope he's sufficiently dosed up on Jaehyun.

It's Saturday, but no doubt Sunwoo will find Jaehyun in their little library alcove again, because for all Jaehyun lives and breathes immaturity and laughter, he never fails to give effort where it is due. Sunwoo is one of the mature ones in their friend group, so he has no problem partitioning his time effectively between subjects, but he works better during crunch time- a habit that he cultivated in high school that would probably be bad for most, but for Sunwoo, who is somewhat of a mix between unfairly genius Jack-of-all-Trades and adrenaline-driven athlete, works contrarily well- so he has free time before he has to get anything done. Jaehyun, who surprisingly holds a 'work hard to play well' mindset that activates only during exam season- because Jaehyun is the type of student who lightly brushes though his course material before the term starts and then proceeds to study nothing until exams come around and still do well throughout the term because he is another sort of unfair genius- is comparatively less adept at effectively dealing with his time beyond the general idea that he should start studying at a certain time before exams roll around and has the stress management skills of someone who lives to play. He is someone who knows how to play well, so, unlike Sunwoo- whom everyone knows not to approach on the days of his exams until the exams of the day are over, for their own safety- he can afford to wait to destress after exam season ends, but Sunwoo knows that him being there for his hyung to cuddle while he studies will likely reduce the amount of stress-induced calls at random moments in the day during the entire exam period and de-stressing he needs at the end of the exam season by a significant amount.

So he makes his way over to the spiraling white structure that is the infamous corner cafe, up the three flights of winding steps to the library in sleep-comfortable clothes and isn't the slightest bit out of breath by the end of it nor in the least bit surprised to actually find Jaehyun there, in the same stretched thin white tee and worn jeans and exact spot he was in last morning. There's someone next to him who Sunwoo only sees at full friend group get-togethers who he's mildly astonished to see instead and who looks up at him with all the surprise Sunwoo isn't showing on his face.

"Oh, hello," Chanhee says, hesitant, tugging at the edges of his woolen white turtleneck, "do you need to talk to Hyunjae-hyung?"

Sunwoo, who wants to be awkward but knows better than to act so after all the times he's been in the same room as Chanhee, just shakes his head as Jaehyun distractedly pushes back his chair and leans back as far as he can without having to look up from his new textbook-notebook combo and flashes Chanhee a friendly grin as he plops down on Jaehyun's lap.

"I'm just here to doze, so you and Jaehyun-hyung can go on doing whatever you were doing before!" He says, turning into Jaehyun as he scooches his chair back in, leaving Chanhee gaping at them with his small mouth open in surprise.

It takes Chanhee a few minutes to get over his shock and turn back to his work, during which Jaehyun only rolls his eyes as Sunwoo flashes him a triumphant smirk, otherwise ignoring Sunwoo’s mischief until he settles into a comfortable position and starts to drop back off into sleep, at which point he softly pats at Sunwoo’s back to soothe him off into dreamland like the baby he is, only for Jaehyun.

He won’t admit it outright, but he’s glad Sunwoo is here to bother him like this and he knows Sunwoo knows this. Without him, he’d probably be drowning under the weight of all the subjects he’d been ignoring since the start of the term.

~

Chanhee doesn’t know what to do. Sunwoo, a dongsaeng he only meets when the entirety of the nine guys in their friend group meet up for some special occasion, suddenly showed up and plopped down on Hyunjae-hyung’s lap like there was nothing strange about that and expected him to continue on like normal?

He doesn’t know where to look!

He knows it’s probably rude to be sneaking glances from under his dark brown bangs at them out of the corner of his eye like he is, but they’re being so obvious about their affection and there’s always something so tempting about looking at something you’re obviously not supposed to.

He doesn’t get them.

When they’re in the same room, you’re more likely to find them somewhere near each other than across the room from each other. They’re so free with their PDA, but for some reason, it doesn’t feel like PDA in the way Chanhee is used to. If Sunwoo isn’t hanging off Hyunjae-hyung, hyung usually ends up seeking out Sunwoo before long, to either wrap an arm around his waist or take the kid’s hand in his own. But there isn’t anything heart-skipping, bashful blushing about it. There are no tender smiles to one another, no words of explicit adoration, no kisses. They just go about it so matter-of-factly, as if it’s perfectly natural for them to be in such proximity, that there’s genuinely nothing to be read into about such open affection.

Like they’re friends. In another sense of the word. Deep friends. Boyfriends? Not boyfriends. Partners. Partners that aren’t dating. _Something_ that Chanhee doesn’t know how to label.

It kind of tugs at Chanhee’s heartstrings. If they’re really something like that, something so completely implicit, so wholesome, so sweet without any of the honey of romance, Chanhee would- he would actually feel just a little bit jealous. He has a boyfriend himself and for all their incredible differences, Johnny-hyung is lovely to him, completely understands and respects that even though Chanhee loves him, he’s never going to feel any sexual attraction to him. Chanhee has even felt terrible about it many times, how did he have the audacity to be gay- his parents were _ever_ so supportive, but he can’t help the nagging feeling that it’s _wrong_ sometimes, deep in the back of his head where the rest of his insecurities lay- but not be sexually attracted to the very men he fell for? But Johnny-hyung was there for him every time, telling him, easy as anything, that it was okay not to feel sexual attraction, that his love wasn’t valued by the sexual intimacy between them. As long as they continued loving each other and were willing to talk about their feelings and problems, there was no need to worry. Having come from America, Chanhee assumes it _is_ that easy to him. Here, where Chanhee still finds himself wondering sometimes if he’s really allowed to just casually walk out hand-in-hand with his boyfriend, Johnny-hyung is the one who bought the abandoned, lovely, three-story white building right on the outskirts of their campus and opened a full bookstore-cafe combination, famous for employing the foreign students on their campus, the second he graduated two years ago and making it a haven for all the LGBTQ+ students on campus and their supporters.

Chanhee loves him to death, ridiculous smirk and even more ridiculous height and everything.

But there’s something unfairly tantalising, so _alluring_ about a relationship in which no sexual attraction is ever expected, something so pure, but somehow so, so distinctly intimate in a way words can’t seem to describe- something he suspects Hyunjae-hyung, who he knows shares the same feelings about sex as him, and Sunwoo, who he isn’t quite as close to to know about his views on sex, have.

And so he _is_ feeling a bit jealous right now, watching Sunwoo drift off in his hyung’s hold, full sleepwear, Hyunjae-hyung holding him in a way that’s clearly so practiced he doesn’t even need to think about it. But he and Hyunjae-hyung have Korean literature to analyze, so he doesn't have the time to be sneaking glances at the mop of red that seems to be tempered by the blond it is resting by, although physically Chanhee knows that is illogical.

"Do you," Hyunjae-hyung starts, and Chanhee's concentration immediately snaps back to the situation at hand, steadily growing to ignore the third presence with them on a Saturday morning, early enough that no one other than he and Hyunjae-hyung should have been willing to wake up to study for an exam a considerable amount of time away.

The hours wile away as they study, and Chanhee doesn't notice the Sun warming the air around them until he sits back to take a breather and rests his worn hand on the table, only to snatch it away with a yelp when he feels how hot the surface of the table has gotten. His noise seems to suddenly set time- which felt like it had slowed significantly, thick and syrupy through their dust-filled lungs, as they were studying with what Chanhee would call admirable, but exhausting single-minded focus- in motion, as Hyunjae-hyung startles to awareness and knocks his phone, which chooses that exact moment to start ringing, off the table.

Somehow, Sunwoo is suddenly awake enough to snatch the phone midair from its downwards trajectory and accept the call, bringing the device to his ear as if he hadn’t just pulled off some freak acrobatics.

Chanhee gapes _._ In his line of sight, pointed straight at Sunwoo, he can see Hyunjae-hyung gaping at him as well.

“Younghoon-hyung?” Sunwoo asks, not at all sounding like he just spent several hours asleep, and Chanhee can’t help the little jolt that runs through him. Sunwoo’s eyes cut to him, though, and Chanhee feels like his dark eyes can see every secret bubbling within him at that moment. He gulps. Sunwoo’s eyes slide back forward and he buries his head into the crook of Hyunjae-hyung’s neck, suddenly as soft looking as he had been before, but for some reason Chanhee can’t look away, feeling a lot like Sunwoo’s attention is still hyper-focused onto him.

“Oh, you’re with that American boyfriend of yours? No, I’m not making fun of him. Promise, hyung. Us? Yeah, we’re at the library. Studying-” He straightens up again and squints at their textbooks, as if his eyes are suddenly blurry after sleeping for several hours. _Seriously, how did he press accept?_ Chanhee wonders. “Korean? Why the fuck are you studying Korean?”

“Ancient Korean Literature Through The Ages.” Hyunjae-hyung huffs. “It’s a course that fulfills some requirements and it’s actually pretty hard, excuse you.”

“What he said.” Chanhee can _hear_ Sunwoo rolling his eyes. Hyunjae-hyung probably can too, judging by the mock affront written across his face. Sunwoo doesn’t seem at all like he cares. “Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah, probably. Sure. Okay, bye hyung.”

And with that, Sunwoo ends the call, slides Hyunjae-hyung’s phone onto the table without looking backwards, and leans back until his spine is cracking with how much he arches against the edge of the table. He groans in mild pain, but his face as he straightens up is very much pleased. Chanhee has a sense of mild foreboding.

“What did he say?” He can’t help but ask, but regrets that he allowed the words to leave his lips when Sunwoo slides his gaze, cat-like, leisurely and endlessly proud, back to him, the weight of it settling on his solidly into the ghost feeling on shoulders like it had never left. Under him, Hyunjae-hyung has a similar expression growing slowly onto his face as he looks at Sunwoo, clearly understanding something Chanhee is afraid he'll learn in the next few minutes, but his is more devil than Cheshire and Chanhee is infinitely more familiar with the growing dread his hyung's expression gives him than Sunwoo's. Wasn't the kid supposed to be mature for his age?

“Well, I’m sure you’ll find out in a few seconds.” _A few seconds? What is that supposed to mean?_ Moreover, why does Chanhee feel like he really doesn’t want to know? “In the meantime, hyung, we should go. Get some coffee? Yeah, let’s do that. C’mon up, up.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Hyunjae-hyung laughs, not even questioning the sudden need for an exit, Sunwoo gathering his stuff as he laboriously gets himself up from his chair, knees cracking with disuse.

The whole thing feels suspicious to Chanhee.

“Um, hyung?” He starts, unsure, but very annoyed.

“Yes?” Hyunjae-hyung turns to him, as if there’s nothing wrong with the current picture. _The pair of them, really._

“Weren’t we supposed to be studying? You know, for our final? Today, so we could forget about it later and focus on other things?”

“Ah, hyung will study with me for that, so you don’t have to worry about that.” Sunwoo cuts in. Chanhee wants to glare. _Can I glare?_ Isn’t this incredibly unfair? What about him?

“What about me?”

“You’ll get help in around three, two- is that too short? Five, four, three, two-” Chanhee wants to tell Sunwoo to cut it out, but then a tall shadow spills over his shoulder, onto the green paint of the table and the neat blue handwriting that completely covers the page his notebook is currently opened to, and Sunwoo’s Cheshire grin grows alarmingly wide, the devil smirking evilly behind him, “one. Have fun!”

And then Hyunjae-hyung is running, dragging Sunwoo away by the wrist as the boy clutches his hyung’s bag to his shoulder, awful loud laughter ricocheting off the bookshelves as they leave Chanhee and this likely shocked silent other young man alone together. And _then_ Chanhee turns around, to dwell in his unfortunate circumstances with this stranger and immediately regrets it.

Gaping down at him, in all his tall, princely glory is one Kim Younghoon, clad full in a striped black and white woolen sweater and matching black pants. If the foreign students on campus are famous because of the Rainbow Fairy Forest, Younghoon is famous for something else entirely- the Bermuda Triangle. Comprising of Hyunjae-hyung, Juyeon, and Younghoon, Chanhee knows Hyunjae-hyung too well to be fooled by his looks and the opposite applies to Juyeon, who is part of Sunwoo's side of the friend circle and quiet when he isn't around someone he's close to. Younghoon, however. Younghoon is… special. It isn't a crush, because his heart doesn't flutter at the sight of Younghoon like it does at the sight of Johnny-hyung, but Chanhee has always felt somewhat of a yearning for him, has always been too intimidated by his perfect face, perfect proportions, perfect, perfect smiles to talk to him. Chanhee still remembers that mortifying moment he first met Younghoon, when he'd _clearly_ been working up the courage to talk to him and out of nowhere Sunwoo had said, _way_ too loudly, "Ah, I see what going on here." And then he and Hyunjae-hyung had laughed and Chanhee had been forever traumatized to ever try talking to him again.

But now here he is, full princely glory, frozen in place and flustered expression screaming _I am not ready for this!_

Well, at least Chanhee isn't the only one.

“Um.” Chanhee tries, clearing his throat when it comes out too squeaky. He will _not_ chicken out and run from here, he will _not_! “Do you want to sit down, for now?”

That snaps Younghoon’s mouth shut and he nods once, jerkily, and stiffly drags the chair back so he can plop down it in a way that is clearly meant to be as stiff and jerky as he holds himself, but somehow looks regal instead. He looks embarrassed, though, and Chanhee is feeling endlessly endeared. His hands are clutched nervously around an excessively large whipped cream topped iced coffee, close-lidded and undoubtedly from the downstairs cafe. Chanhee is well acquainted with the very same drink, half whipped cream and chocolate drizzle whenever Johnny-hyung is around to indulge him, exactly how he likes it. Younghoon’s drink looks much the same- although personally, Chanhee prefers the smallest size available- but sports a strawberry drizzle, for some odd reason, and Chanhee briefly questions the sanity of his taste buds. He’s never met anyone who’s had any kind of strawberry flavoring with their coffee.

It makes him feel even more endeared. And question himself. He shouldn’t be endeared by strawberry in coffee. They haven’t even held an actual conversation yet, he shouldn’t be feeling endeared at all!

“My name is Kim Younghoon,” Younghoon says, completely out of the blue and looking straight down at his pink, white, and brown coffee. He bites his lips, peeks up at Chanhee, and blushes and shoots his gaze back down when he sees Chanhee is looking right back at him. Chanhee doesn’t know where Younghoon expected him to be looking, when there’s only two of them in the space they’re sharing. It’s endearing and awkward and Chanhee is feeling more awkward than endeared this time around.

“I know,” he says, and then coughs. _That’s a weird thing to say._ “We’re in the same friend group.”

He doesn’t know why he said that. It’s awkward, there’s nowhere for the conversation to go now, and he’s succeeded in making himself seem like a creep.

They’re tentatively part of the same friend group, but they don’t seem like it at all. Younghoon is more in Sunwoo’s circle than Chanhee’s, what if Younghoon doesn’t know his name? _That’s going to be even more awkward._

“You’re Choi Chanhee.” Younghoon says, entirely unprompted again. Chanhee blinks, surprised, and feels his mouth part. Younghoon knows his name? _The_ Kim Younghoon, campus prince and most-sought after boyfriend? Well, he doesn’t care much for the boyfriend side of things, but Chanhee is nobody. He doesn’t have a problem with it, but right now, he’s feeling a tad bit touched. _Yeah, it’s weird if we don’t know each other’s names when we’re in the same friend group, right?_

“Yeah,” he says, and his voice sounds a bit breathy. It prompts Younghoon to look up at him and this time, he doesn’t look away. He can feel himself blushing and Younghoon’s blush deepens too, and suddenly the atmosphere’s a lot warmer.

He can do this. They’re making a lot of progress here. _One step at a time._

Younghoon seems like he’s made the same conclusion. “What have you got here?” His words aren’t stuttering anymore and his tone is confident. This is the Younghoon Chanhee is familiar with, the one he steals yearning glances at when the full group meets. But Chanhee feels significantly less cowed now than he usually does, because for some reason, Younghoon is nervous to talk to him too.

It feels like they’re on the same page.

“Ancient Korean Literature Through The Ages. Hyunjae-hyung and I were supposed to get it over with today so we could focus on other things for the rest of the time until exams officially start, but those two just took off, so… Yeah. I’m stuck doing this alone.”

“Oh, that class? I took it too, last year, I can help you with it, if you want.”

Is this what Sunwoo meant by help?

“Are you sure?” Chanhee makes sure to ask, even though he wants nothing more to just say yes and have Younghoon stay so they can talk more and Chanhee can fall deeper into this strange sense of awe and endearment he feels around him.

“Sure.” Younghoon agrees, and looks directly into Chanhee’s eyes. There’s promise glittering in Younghoon’s eyes and something secret and special hidden in the lines of his lips and Chanhee can’t help but feel as if he’s finally stumbling into something great.

~

Several hours later, at the bottom of the stairs, evening sun spilling through open windows and coloring Younghoon’s hair platinum, Chanhee stills, suddenly feeling shy in a way he somehow hasn’t felt ever since he and Younghoon-hyung started studying, all those hours ago. He pauses on the last step, not making a sound, but somehow Younghoon-hyung seems to know and turns to face him, question clear in the set of his pretty face and the innocent purse of his lips.

Younghoon-hyung is perpetually pouting, Chanhee has come to find.

“Hyung?” He asks, hesitantly. They haven’t discussed this yet and it’s only been a day- part of Chanhee thinks he may be moving too fast. But then Younghoon-hyung smiles, delighted and encouraging, and Chanhee can’t help but smile back, mirroring and relieved. Whatever this is between them, this simple understanding, this innocent crush, this yearning for something deeper, more than romance, more than friendship, more than conventional- whatever it is that is blooming between them, Younghoon-hyung feels it too, Younghoon-hyung wants it too. It’s alright for Chanhee to feel this way.

“Yes, Chanhee-yah?”

Chanhee knows he’s blushing.

“Thank you for studying with me today.” He says, bashful, soft, and sweet, leaning up to press a soft peck on Younghoon-hyung’s cheek because he needs the added height, even if Younghoon-hyung is standing on the floor a step below him. And even as Younghoon-hyung stands there, looking confident and princely, he blushes too, delight colored in his cheeks and twinkling in his eyes.

“Anytime. Call me again if you need anything. Actually, call me even if you don’t need anything. Is that okay?” He bites his lip, suddenly as bashful as Chanhee had been, and Chanhee can’t count the amount of times he’s felt whiplash in the past few hours with how quickly his hyung shifts between one mood and the other.

“It is. I’ll definitely call you.”

And for a second, everything is fine, Younghoon-hyung is returning his gaze and something settles between them, deep and comfortable and nothing Chanhee’s ever felt before, and in the next second, all Chanhee’s insecurities crash into him all at once when he sees Johnny-hyung over Younghoon-hyung’s shoulder.

Younghoon-hyung must see his face fall, because he turns around to catch sight of Johnny-hyung as well and Chanhee thinks he must be feeling awkward. He isn’t sure if Younghoon-hyung knows who Johnny-hyung is at all, and if he does, he’s sure Younghoon-hyung doesn’t know who Johnny-hyung is to Chanhee himself and suddenly, Chanhee feels as if he’s done something wrong.

Had Johnny-hyung seen him kiss Younghoon-hyung on the cheek? Had he seen him blushing, come in close, was that a weird distance to be with someone who wasn’t his boyfriend? Come to think of it, hadn’t Sunwoo said Younghoon-hyung had a boyfriend as well?

 _“... that American boyfriend of yours?”_ Chanhee remembers. Why is he only remembering now?

_Is this adulterous?_

Johnny-hyung smiles at Younghoon-hyung and Chanhee, and it’s warm and kind and everything Johnny-hyung is in essence, but Chanhee doesn’t know what that smile means. _Is he angry?_ Shouldn’t he be angry? Chanhee shouldn’t be going around kissing random other tall boys and thinking that they’re pretty and he wants to give them a teddy bear just to see their glistening, bitten red, pouty lips turn up into a smile, should he?

“Leaving?” Johnny-hyung asks, and Chanhee’s traitorous heart leaps in his chest at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice, a deep chuckle given voice. Is he still allowed to feel this way? “You’ve been up there a long time, I was starting to feel worried.”

Was that a leading comment? Was Johnny-hyung implying something? _Doesn’t he have a right to imply something?_

For some reason, Younghoon-hyung doesn’t seem to think so. He beams. “Yeah! I’m actually surprised I spent this long studying, I usually don’t like focusing on one thing for too long, but I guess that’s just the effect your boyfriend has!”

_Younghoon-hyung knows? Why is he talking to Johnny-hyung so casually?_

Chanhee doesn’t know what’s going on anymore. He bites his lips. Younghoon-hyung waves. Johnny-hyung is still smiling.

“Okay then, I’m going to go for now, okay? You can get my number from Johnny-hyung if you need to, see you later!” Chanhee is about to panic. Is Younghoon-hyung allowed to leave this easily? Can Chanhee?

Younghoon-hyung turns around again, like he can tell what’s going on through Chanhee’s mind even though Chanhee has yet to say anything, and gives Chanhee a warm smile that Chanhee feels like he doesn’t deserve, but makes his insides melt anyway.

“It’ll be okay,” he says, “I promise.”

_Why does Younghoon-hyung look like he knows what’s going on?_

Younghoon-hyung strides through the cafe without a single look back, weaving through people easily without actually looking at all like he’s making any effort to do so. It’s like the world parts for him without even asking, and when Younghoon-hyung pushes past the glass doors, it feels a lot like the light went out with him, vying for his attention like everyone he passed by in those few seconds, everyone he didn’t notice, because Chanhee somehow knows that although Younghoon-hyung knows he’s beautiful, he doesn’t quite realize that other people are aware of this too, even though they’ve never broached any such topic in their time analyzing ancient Korean literature in the upstairs library. It’s ridiculous, the windows are still open and there’s no way the sun has set so far down in the few seconds it took them to say goodbye- the inner lights are on too, but that’s far less romantic and much more commonplace, and Chanhee doesn’t notice them half as much- but now he’s alone with Johnny-hyung and he’s aware that he might have been cheating, even though he didn’t mean to, and Chanhee just really doesn’t want to lose him.

He doesn’t want to let the silence stretch. If Johnny-hyung is going to break up with him, he’d rather admit that he knows he’s done something wrong first.

It isn’t Johnny-hyung’s fault here. It’s his.

Chanhee opens his mouth, brows furrowed, internally bracing for something potentially ugly, and Johnny-hyung stops him with a raised hand before he can even muster up a sound from the recesses of his drying throat.

“Stop. I can already tell what you’re thinking. Let me take you somewhere else and we can talk about this, okay?

Chanhee freezes in place. Shuts his mouth. Nods. He feels slow and anxious and scared. Johnny-hyung looks very safe. Chanhee just wants his hyung to hug him.

Instead, Johnny-hyung takes his hand and leads him back upstairs to the second floor, where the cafe first starts merging into the library, white tile and brown shelving, contrast in the best of ways. It’s an hour from closing and people are loath to travel up and down the stairs this time of the evening, so the place is relatively empty when Johnny-hyung leads him into the back office every floor has and sits him down on the plush couch that can be found in every office. There’s a moment of silence in which Johnny-hyung just sinks to the floor and gently takes Chanhee’s shoes and socks off for him, allowing him to sink his feet into the thick, seafoam green rug, and Chanhee’s mind quiets as he sinks into the matching couch. Johnny-hyung takes care of him best. He may be annoying and join in on all the bullying that happens when Changminnie and Hyunjae-hyung are around, but when Chanhee really needs it, he’s gentle and perfect and utterly understanding.

Hyung trusts him, so Chanhee needs to trust him back the same. He knows that his insecurities get the best of him sometimes and Johnny-hyung always says it’s okay, but Chanhee knows better than this. Chanhee’s smart, he knows exactly who’s there for him and after all this time, he knows his boyfriend is one of those people who will always be there for him.

“Have you calmed down?” Johnny-hyung asks, rising back up to sit next to him and gently pat his head. His hand is large and comforting and it always sends Chanhee’s heart fluttering up his throat. He leans into it.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thank you, hyung.”

“Anytime, baby.” Hyung smiles. Chanhee loves him so much. “Do you want to talk about Younghoon? We don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I just want to let you know it’s okay.”

“How do you even know him?”

“He’s Kim Younghoon, baby. There’s no way I don’t know about the Bermuda Triangle. One of them’s even your close friend, Chanhee-yah. But, well, if we’re talking about personally, I know him through his boyfriend. He’s dating that American freshman, Sohn Youngjae. He prefers Eric, just like I prefer Johnny over Suh Youngho, but he works for me and Younghoon comes to visit often.”

So that’s why he said Johnny-hyung could give him his number if he needed it. Chanhee bites his lip. “We can talk about him. I just… don’t know what to say. About him. Or whatever was happening?”

“Do you want me to start then?” Hyung asks, and Chanhee nods. Johnny-hyung always knows what’s going on, even before Chanhee does. It’s a difference in exposure, Chanhee knows, but it also feels a lot like Johnny-hyung is simply always keeping an eye out for him and the feeling blooms warmth through his chest and across his skin. “You feel warm around him. You’re attracted, but it’s not like when you’re with me. He’s pretty, but even more than that, you just want to give him everything he wants. You maybe just met him, but you already feel like you know each other more than you should in the time you’ve spent together. It feels like there’s something deeper there and it’s a bit exhilarating and a lot comfy. Does that sound about right?”

Chanhee nods and nods and nods at everything and just smiles in confirmation at the end of his hyung’s little speech, because _of course_ Johnny-hyung knows. He shouldn’t have worried. Johnny-hyung smiles too, and breaks out of character for a second to coo at him, placing a quick peck on his lips before smoothening his expression back down into the tender older boyfriend persona it was sporting before. Chanhee giggles and blows a raspberry at him and then calms down and waits for his boyfriend to continue.

“Honestly, I was kind of expecting something like this to happen. I feel like you may be a bit sex-repulsed,” and before Chanhee can desolve into an undue panic again, Johnny-hyung expertly hastens to continue, “and that’s completely okay! I just kind of thought you may want something somewhere down the line which was completely platonic and utterly independent of any implications of sex. And while what I think I saw, like, five minutes ago isn’t exactly conventionally platonic, I also think that’s exactly something you would like. And if Kim Younghoon is someone who can give that sort of comfort to you, I’d only ever be happy that you found him.”

Chanhee melts. Into a little puddle. Cuddles into his boyfriend’s hand, now on his cheek, and simpers with the utter perfection of how loved he feels in this moment, on an absurdly colored couch in the experienced hands of an often childish boyfriend three years older than himself and still in work clothes.

“But what exactly is this?” He asks, content and curious.

“I’m not too well-versed on it myself, simply because I don’t think I could do something like that, and I know you’ll want to research it anyway when you get home, so I’ll just tell you the name of what you need to know: queerplatonic. You’re looking for a queerplatonic relationship.”

“Okay,” Chanhee hums, fulfilled and sugar spilling past his brim. Johnny-hyung smiles wide down at him, expression endeared, and Chanhee makes sure to broadcast just how okay he feels right back at him, because he knows how happy it makes Johnny-hyung when he can see that he’s done a good job of taking care of him. Sure enough, hyung melts a little too, and they sit there melted into each other for a moment longer before Johnny-hyung speaks up, soft and not at all breaking the moment.

“You want me to take you back to your room?”

“Can you?”

“Of course. We can stop by my parents’ for dinner too, they’d love to see you.”

Chanhee _loves_ him.

~

Later, when he is showered and well rested, nestled in his comfortable beige bed covers, Chanhee calls up Hyunjae-hyung and waits for approximately three rings before his friend picks up.

“Did you know what would happen today?” He asks bluntly, forgoing greeting, and can _see_ Hyunjae-hyung buffering in his mind’s eye before it finally clicks what Chanhee is talking about.

“Ah, that. I mean, well. It was kinda pretty obvious, yeah.” He sounds smug. It’s terribly annoying, but Chanhee is curious.

“What do you mean obvious?”

“Should I tell you?” Hyunjae-hyung goads. Chanhee can _hear_ him smirking. He huffs. Hyunjae-hyung relents easily, and Chanhee rolls his eyes. “I don’t know, that day you first met him-”

“And you and Kim Sunwoo made a complete fool out of me.” Chanhee interrupts. He’s still salty about that, even if he has something wonderful in his grasp now.

“I could just not tell you, you know?”

It’s Chanhee’s turn to smirk. “But you wouldn’t because I have the power to ban you from the cafe for however long I feel like it.”

“Damn it.”

It isn’t everyday Chanhee gets to fight back, but _damn_ it feels good when he wins.

“So?”

Hyunjae-hyung suffers out a sigh, but relents easily enough to tell Chanhee he still isn’t really planning on hiding this information from him. “ _As_ I was _saying_ -”

“Mhmm?”

Chanhee knows Hyunjae-hyung is rolling his eyes.

“That day the two of you met, you were already dating Johnny-hyung, but you gave Younghoon-hyung this look that I noticed very easily, you know? And then I saw Sunwoo and I wasn’t really paying attention to you anymore-” Chanhee huffs loudly, “but every time we met after that, I feel like your expression kind of looked like what I think mine looked like those days back when I wanted to talk to Sunwoo and I wasn’t quite sure what was going on between the two of us.”

This isn’t news to Chanhee, who is now mildly well-researched on queerplatonic relationships. A lot of what he read was vague in the way many LGBTQ+ spectrum things tend to be, but there were many specifics and common descriptors enough to tell Chanhee what he wanted to know. It differs in specifics to each couple- or partnership- and Chanhee is well-versed in recognizing that with the experience he had researching his asexuality after Johnny-hyung had sat him down and explained it to him way back when, but what Chanhee gathered sounded a lot like what he saw in Hyunjae-hyung and Sunwoo.

“So now that we’ve been known for a long time,” Hyunjae-hyung continues, and Chanhee can feel the jab coming, “I guess Sunwoo just figured it was time to end your pathetic dithering and let y’all just get on with it.”

Chanhee knows his close friends way too well.

“Yes, well.” Hyunjae-hyung is radiating smugness from across the phone. Chanhee hopes he’s radiating reluctance right back. “Thank you. For that. I guess.”

“Oh ho, look at that!” Hyunjae-hyung laughs gleefully. _I should’ve never opened my mouth, damn it. Why is he like this?_ “ _The_ Choi Chanhee is thanking me? What has this world come to?”

Where is Sunwoo when he’s needed? Chanhee is kind of terrified of him, giving what he’s pulled already, but he could use a Hyunjae-calmer right around now.

“Yes, yes, get over it.”

“No way, Choi Chanhee.” Hyunjae-hyung gloats. “I’m going to tell Sunwoo his plan worked and we’re going to hold this over your head forever.”

“Good _night_ , Hyunjae-hyung!”

“Good night, Chanhee-yah.” He somehow manages to sound simultaneously infuriating and like he’s actually wishing Chanhee well. He hates it, but as he clicks the call to end, he finds himself smiling fondly down at his reflection on his phone.

He goes to sleep that night, the ghost of Johnny-hyung’s large hand warm on his cheek, Younghoon-hyung’s adorable smile in his mind, and Hyunjae-hyung’s roundabout support settled into his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did the warm feelings carry over?


	4. Phase 1.5: Camaraderie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eric doubts, but Younghoon makes it better, as always.
> 
> Also, Sunwoo is scary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, I nearly forgot today was a Monday and I had to post. Luckily I had half the brain to actually check the date and saved myself from breaking this schedule I actually doubted I could ever keep. I've got the world's most unreliable memory and I actually managed to keep this schedule, I'm actually really proud of myself!
> 
> More terms/facts to help you understand what's going on!:  
> • Noona: a term a younger male would use to refer to an older sister figure, can be used as a honorific

Youngjae feels a lot like he’s sweating through his skin, standing in the bright sun outside his workplace, outside of work hours. He needs to talk to his boyfriend and although, logically, he knows the conversation won’t go all that badly at all, he can’t help the nerves that are building up in him. They’ve talked about this before, quite thoroughly at that, but that’s all it’s been- _talking_. Now that he actually wants to bring it up in practice, Youngjae suddenly feels like there’s a lot that could go wrong, simply in the span of a few minutes.

There’s a lot that _could_ actually go wrong, but he and Younghoon are good. They’ve talked and talked and talked about this, and even though Younghoon is often more baby-like than Youngjae is, it’s the times when Younghoon makes Youngjae sit down and listen to him bring up his own thoughts because he knows Youngjae wants to talk and is just too scared to that Youngjae acutely feels those three years that separates them and reverent in a way that’s different than usual.

So there’s absolutely no need for him to be staring into the cafe from beyond its glass doors, scanning the checkered floor and the majestic white and black matching tables for a glimpse of his too-tall-and-pretty-to-be-real boyfriend. His too-tall-and-too-pretty-to-be-real boyfriend who is currently blending beautifully into the unnecessarily regal atmosphere of a cafe named Rainbow Fairy Forest, standing smack in the middle of the place, gazing blankly into the distance looking all kinds of handsome, literally every poor soul sitting in an overly large, throne-like chair stealing lovelorn glances at him.

Younghoon is Youngjae’s. People may not know who Youngjae is, but they all know Younghoon is taken by a foreign student and they all know better than to approach him.

Except for one tiny student sporting long-ish dark brown hair with blond highlights at the bangs and a stylish, rider outfit who’s studiously licking away at the chocolate drizzle atop his small iced coffee- the chocolate-covered whipped cream is sticking out over the top of the cup, so he must be planning on drinking it on the first floor- as he walks and Youngjae can see the collision before it happens. True to his mind’s picture, the guy only looks up after he’s crashed and Younghoon only snaps out of it to make an aborted attempt to grab at him before he falls. Untrue to his mind’s picture is the direction the coffee falls in. It’s as if the coffee is self-aware to the fact that it couldn’t possibly bring mishap to a prince, crown a black beret, and instead falls towards the brown-haired guy, spilling all over his red and black leather jacket. Youngjae winces from the outside, even as his eyes are looking over his boyfriend to make sure he is unharmed- that will probably be a bitch to get out. His boyfriend on the other hand, is miraculously safe, the only things sagging the black strings hanging from the collar of his flowy white top and a corner of his shirt where an entire blob of the guy's whipped cream is stuck, but miraculously, there is no chocolate drizzle to ruin his shirt. Younghoon tugs at his neck, pulling, and Youngjae discovers that the string isn’t attached to the shirt at all, just an excessively long black string that Younghoon wrapped around his neck several times as a strange sort of fashion statement that only Kim Younghoon could ever think of.

Clearly Younghoon knows the guy well, because his expression melts into something Youngjae is intimately familiar with, except it feels incredibly unfamiliar, not directed at him. For one hot second, he feels a flash of irrational jealousy as he watches Younghoon fuss over him, the guy clearly used to his attention and antics as he deals with it all with a cordial smile, simply taking off his jacket and excusing himself with a polite bow. But then he remembers Lee Jeno in his Gen Psych lecture, stoic face that melts so easily and so often into a cute, full-faced smile, and tells himself that he’s in no place feeling jealous over his boyfriend when he himself is harboring a crush on someone.

Youngjae would have stewed over it on his own, overthinking if it was allowed even if Sunwoo- a boy he barely talks to and even then, usually only around Younghoon, who is their only connection outside of Gen Psych, where he sits next to the brooding red head and sometimes asks to copy his notes, if he zones out and ends up missing something, the boy really isn’t as terrifying as he looks and sounds, kind of, maybe, Youngjae is getting over it, _slowly_ , he will reach a point where he can get Kim Sunwoo to smile at or because of him like he does with his two friends, he will!- somehow knows that he and Younghoon have talked about it extensively. If it weren’t for Sunwoo randomly confronting Youngjae one day over his apparent “goo-goo eyes” at Jeno, who sits two rows ahead of them, Youngjae definitely wouldn’t be here, willing to talk about it all on his own. But Sunwoo _had_ cornered him in his seat as soon as class was over- dismissing his two friends who were gaping at a tall, sickly looking girl who showed up in oversized clothes, a large face mask, and a beanie, even though it clearly wasn’t that sort of weather, and seemed to be dating one of them with a simple, “Oh, you’re here, noona? I wasn’t expecting you to be free today, sorry, I’ll be with you in a bit, can you just take Hak-hyung and Hwall out for just a second?”, accompanied by an utterly terrifying, meaningful glance- and questioned whether Younghoon knew about his crush, giving him an incredibly unimpressed look when Youngjae timidly told him he didn’t. He’d then quietly, but incredibly intensely “encouraged” Youngjae to phone up his boyfriend right then and there and Youngjae would’ve definitely chickened out halfway in between when he heard Younghoon’s sweet voice over the phone asking him if anything was wrong, _"you never call at this time, Youngjae-yah"_ , if not for Sunwoo’s languid, squinty-eyed glare that never lifted off him for a second. But then Younghoon had been delighted by the fact that Youngjae had brought up wanting to talk about something important by himself and Youngjae owed it to Sunwoo to obey when the boy told him they should meet up at Rainbow Fairy Forest to talk even though Youngjae was loath to talk about his private relationship details in public, if at all, and Sunwoo was sporting a sly smirk that terrified Youngjae a tad bit more than his glares.

 _“You’ll see Younghoon-hyung wants to talk to you about something too,”_ he’d said _, “and I might be there, but you don’t need to know that.”_

Youngjae really doesn’t understand the guy. Why tell him he might be there if he didn't want Youngjae to know? And how is Younghoon friends with someone as scary as him? If he ever tells Younghoon Sunwoo told him to confess, Younghoon would- first and foremost be disappointed it wasn't Youngjae spontaneously summoning the courage to do so- just giggle cutely and say something like, "Aigoo, Sunwoo-yah, that baby is always watching out for his hyungs!"

Youngjae can't imagine the amount of mental strength a person could have to be able to baby _the_ Kim Sunwoo.

But he can once again see that Sunwoo is right as he sees his new Canadian coworker, Hyungseo, rush in from some corner to help clean up the mess- Younghoon does have something to tell him too, maybe especially with the way he's suddenly blushing, speechless, as Hyungseo worriedly dabs away at the spot on his chest with napkins and maybe Youngjae needs to step in and save him before his mind overheats and he blanks out and ends up embarrassing himself.

He gathers his courage and pushes through the doors, making his way towards his boyfriend and his new Canadian friend and waving at people to mind their own business as he passes them by. Younghoon somehow manages to notice him through his intense blushing haze and visibly relaxes at the sight of him in a way that Youngjae both adores and feels pride for.

"Hey, Kevin!" he calls in English, and Hyungseo looks up, startled, from the work he's doing on Younghoon's chest, before his eyes finally lock onto who’s calling to him and he beams.

"Eric, hey! What’s up? I didn’t expect to see you here after hours!"

"I didn’t expect to be here either," Youngjae mutters, out of earshot of his boyfriend, who is looking between them with interest and adorable, furrowed eyebrows, trying to decipher the English. Hyungseo raises his eyebrow, but before he can comment on it, Youngjae drives on. "It’s looking a bit busy in here, you can leave this to me and go back to work."

All at once, Hyungseo looks incredibly relieved and guilty, taking a glance back at the counter, where Lee Minhyung is fielding both his position at the register and his own position, looking harried in the way he tends to look at anything slightly stressful. In all actuality, Minhyung is actually the most capable of all of them, but the look on his face while he’s doing the impossible makes it look like he’s suffering through hell with every move.

“Are you sure?” He asks, glancing back at Youngjae. He bites his lip and Younghoon looks like his brain has checked out of the program at the sight. Youngjae can see “THAT IS EXTREMELY ADORABLE!” in large pink bubble letters floating over his boyfriend’s head, complete with flowers and sparkles and everything, even though Younghoon’s actual face looks as blank as it’s been throughout the entire encounter, and Youngjae hides a grin.

“Yeah, totally. Go help Mark, he looks like he’s about to die.”

“Thanks, man!” He stuffs the napkins in Youngjae’s hands and takes off at a sprint to the register, slamming home just as a new customer steps up to the counter. Minhyung wipes what may or may not be a fake tear in thanks and hastens back to where he makes his drinks with a quick bow to the customer. Hyungseo is panting at the exertion as he takes the order, but he looks kind of charming as he smiles charmingly and tries to control the way his shoulders heave, maybe. Youngjae doesn’t feel anything himself, but he can definitely see what is so appealing about him to Younghoon and the fanclub he’s steadily starting to build every day he spends in the cafe. Speaking of which. He turns to his boyfriend.

“Hey, hyung.”

Younghoon blinks, smiles, and cups his cheeks. “Hi, Youngjae-yah. My knight in shining armor. You came just in time to save me, didn’t you?”

And it’s cheesy, so cheesy, but Youngjae can’t help but blush.

“Yeah, hyung. I’m always a knight in shining armor for you.”

Younghoon absolutely _melts_. Squeals, not so internally, blooms in a pretty, pouty smile, drops a kiss on the tip of his nose, his lips, pulls back for a second, then decides it’s not enough and peppers the rest of his face in kisses. Youngjae giggles and whines, but lets his hyung pepper him with his love and delights in the wet smack of his lips against his cheeks, precious and tender and everything Youngjae is only around those he considers family. By the time he’s done, Youngjae’s entire face feels a little wet and worn, but it’s also burning with an amazing intensity and Youngjae can’t help but burrow his head into his hyung’s shoulder. Younghoon laughs.

“Should we go sit down?” Youngjae nods against his shoulder and whines when Younghoon separates them. Younghoon laughs charmingly again and takes his hand in his own warm grasp, leading him off to a corner where there are no prying eyes, having spent enough time at the store to know where such an ideal spot is, because he knows when they get down to things, Youngjae will appreciate the privacy more.

Younghoon sits in the booth first, sliding down onto the black cushion and turning expectantly towards Youngjae. Youngjae doesn’t know what to do. It’s meant to be a serious discussion, so he supposes he should sit across from Younghoon, but after the kiss fest earlier, he feels loath to sit even across the table from him. Younghoon sees his struggle and smiles softly at the sight, choosing to just tug his boyfriend into the booth by his side so he can cuddle into him, which Youngjae does immediately with a grateful smile.

“You wanted to talk about something, little knight?” Younghoon prompts, nudging Youngjae with his shoulder just slightly enough that it doesn’t actually jostle him too much. Youngjae groans and Younghoon lets out his nth laugh, this time fond. “Mm, no, we need to talk about these things, don’t we, sweetheart? Communication is important. I was so proud of you when you called me and asked me if we could talk, you know? And you know hyung will be fine with whatever you need to say. So go on, baby. You can tell me, I know you can.”

Youngjae whines again, but Younghoon stays silent, expectant, and Youngjae knows he won’t budge until he gets an answer. For all Younghoon is a baby, he is also a hyung when Youngjae needs him to be and like any good hyung, he won’t budge until Youngjae gives in, often for something that’s for his own good.

“I have a crush on a kid named Lee Jeno in my Gen Psych class.” He mumbles, muffled into Younghoon’s shoulder. Younghoon hums, after a moment, and Youngjae isn’t quite sure he actually heard anything through the white cloth of his long-sleeved top. He turns his head so he can catch his hyung’s eyes. “Did you hear that?”

Younghoon just gazes back down at him, expression unchanging. “Do you want to repeat yourself?”

Does he want to? Younghoon’s expression is blank, but it’s not unkind. Youngjae had known he wouldn’t actually be upset to hear about his crush, but now seeing his hyung’s consoling face, it really hits home that his boyfriend would have his back no matter what.

So yeah, he can repeat it for him.

“I have a crush on a kid in my Gen Psych class. His name is Lee Jeno and he has a really cute smile. I think he’s friends with Johnny-hyung, Mark-hyung- well, basically most of the people who work here. He’s really cute when he smiles, you know, hyung? Oh wait, did I already say that?”

Younghoon giggles.

“He sounds like a cutie. Just like my little knight.” He squeezes Youngjae’s nose and Youngjae lets himself suffer for a few seconds so he can keep hearing his boyfriend’s precious giggle. “Thank you for telling me, baby. I’m happy you got to find such a cute little crush for yourself!”

Youngjae nods, bashful and long-suffering in equal measures, and it’s only then Younghoon realizes his hand is still pinching his boyfriend’s nose. He lets go sheepishly and Youngjae rolls his eyes before straightening up and off him, suddenly excited.

“What was that I saw earlier today, hyung? It looked like you were crushing on the guy you spilled coffee on, but then Kevin-hyung popped up and you just couldn’t stop staring at him? Are you crushing on both of them?”

“You saw that?” Younghoon buries his face in his hands.

“Yeah, hyung, it was, like, super cute how you reacted. Totally the stuff of the stories. Well, you kind of always act like you just walked out of the pages of a fairytale, so that’s not really surprising, but still!”

“Stop!” Younghoon whines. Youngjae can see him blushing through the gaps in his fingers.

“So?” He prods. “Who are these crushes of yours? Well, I know about Kevin-hyung, don’t tell me about him, but the guy in that fancy biker jacket! Tell me about him!”

“What about me?” Sounds from behind him, right as Younghoon says, “So his name is Kevin, hm?”

Younghoon gapes, Youngjae gapes, and the guy who is no longer wearing a fancy biker jacket in favor of a simple unstained, long-sleeved white shirt looks like he’s considering whether to be offended or not.

“Youngjae-yah,” Younghoon says once he recovers, “meet Choi Chanhee. He’s a ‘98 liner and I wouldn’t say I have a crush on him more so as I love him intensely platonically. With your permission, I was thinking of asking him to be my queerplatonic partner.”

Youngjae can’t stop gaping, but he momentarily collects himself enough to be able to give Chanhee an introduction.

“Hi.” He says haltingly. His voice sounds very amazed, even to himself. “I’m Sohn Youngjae, but you can call me Eric. It’s nice to meet you.”

Chanhee doesn’t even blink down at his outstretched hand, taking it and giving is a soft, but firm shake without a second doubt. Youngjae can’t believe he’s finally meeting Youngho’s boyfriend.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Chanhee returns politely and it snaps Youngjae out of his stupor, because it’s completely unacceptable for people who he’s just met to not be endeared by him in some way, shape, or form. _I need to work on that as soon as possible_ , he thinks as he turns to Younghoon.

“You said you wanted to make him your queerplatonic partner, or something like that? I’m not quite sure what that is, but I can kind of guess by the name and you can totally explain the details to me later, hyung. Thanks for talking to me about it, seriously hyung, but you don’t really need my permission for anything like this. Do what makes you happy! Isn’t that what you always tell me, hyung?”

Younghoon coos, hands flying to his cheeks and squishing them so his lips pucker out.

“I like your boyfriend, hyung.” Chanhee says from behind him. Youngjae hopes he’s smiling. Youngjae certainly is. Or would be, if Younghoon would just let him go.

“I like him too.” Younghoon simpers instead, and Youngjae is suddenly content to let him hold him like this for as long as he wants. Chanhee slides into the opposite side of the booth, though, and Younghoon lets him go to stretch one hand across the table for him to take. Youngjae would feel lonely, but in the next second, Younghoon is wrapping his free arm around Youngjae and bringing him to his shoulder to nestle as he had been before and Youngjae feels treasured instead.

He, Chanhee, and Younghoon talk about Hyungseo and Jeno and Youngho and Youngjae can’t help but feel kind of blessed that he gets to see the undercurrent of communication that flows between his hyung and Chanhee, even as they’re sitting quiet and letting Youngjae talk all he wants. It’s something beyond Youngjae and a bit mind-boggling to see, and suddenly, Youngjae understands why Younghoon would want something like this. There’s a disconnect between Younghoon and Youngjae where Youngjae is young and energetic and in touch with all his emotions to an almost too vivid degree and Younghoon is reserved and in his own world, sometimes baby, sometimes timeless prince. Chanhee, though, emits the same kind of vibe as Younghoon does, somehow, although it’s maybe not as eccentric and definitely nowhere near as princely- there’s no one who can compare to his boyfriend in that aspect even throughout the rest of the Bermuda Triangle, thank you very much- and it’s gratifying for Youngjae to see.

“By the way, that day we first started talking and I freaked out because I saw Johnny-hyung and just totally misunderstood the whole situation by myself? How did you know what was happening? I’ve been wondering. I feel like the automatic assumption there is, “Oh, this kid looks guilty, there’s someone who knows him standing behind me, shit, did I just help him cheat?” But you didn’t seem like you thought that at all.”

“Younghoon-hyung doesn’t think like normal people do.” Youngjae informs him. Younghoon pouts at him and Youngjae just pats his cheek consolingly. “It’s a good thing.”

Chanhee snorts. “So I’ve gathered.”

“Hey!” Younghoon exclaims. “This isn’t “Attack Younghoon!” time! I didn’t spend all that time imagining you two meeting just to find out it would end up like this!”

Youngjae casts a clear, sidelong glance at Chanhee, biting back a grin. “I mean…”

Chanhee’s lips turn up to a wicked angle almost immediately and Younghoon’s pout intensifies.

“Okay, okay,” he says, placating. “We’ll stop. So how did you know? Not to mention, hyung, you aren’t really the type who spends extra time researching things until they start concerning you.”

_Chanhee-hyung knows Younghoon-hyung really well, huh._

“Ah, what can I say?” Younghoon rubs at his neck, slightly embarrassed at the attention. “Ever since I started dating my little knight here, we kept noticing we were really different? So we started talking about it and I realized I probably needed to look a little deeper if I wanted to keep things going smoothly. And, well, there’s little I wouldn’t do for Youngjae-yah, you know? So if I needed to look up asexuality, polyamory, or anything in between, I would.”

Youngjae blushes. Yeah, he’d kind of always wondered how Younghoon knew more about these things than he did, especially when he was more likely to space out staring at a book than actually read it, but- _wow. It was all for me?_

“And then I met you and what I’d once read about queerplatonic relationships suddenly came back to me and seemed a lot more interesting. On that day, well. The look you were giving Johnny-hyung was a lot like the look Youngjae-yah used to give me, back when we started talking about our differences. I figured it was just something you two had to sort through on your own. And look, there really wasn’t anything to worry about in the end, was there?”

Chanhee settles back into the leather booth cushion with a sheepish grin. “Yeah, there really wasn’t. Johnny-hyung and I talked about it after and he told me he kind of expected it, actually. He said since I was asexual and given my personality, I would kind want something like this, where it’s deep but there’s not a thought of anything, like, more physical that I want it to be, you know? And, well, you’re asexual too, hyung, so, you know. It definitely helps. After that, hyung just took care of me for a while and made sure I knew it was okay. And I talked to Hyunjae-hyung about it when I got home, so. I guess normalizing it made it okay for me.”

Why are all the hyungs in Youngjae’s life suddenly so capable when they need to be? _Like, where’s the button that switches them from cute or annoying into someone reliable? How do they all suddenly know when it’s important for them to talk about things? Do they not have that moment of anxiety where they wonder if it’s actually okay to say something?_

For one potentially life-altering moment, Youngjae wonders if his whole life has been a lie. But then Younghoon rubs a warm hand across his back and Youngjae abruptly drops back into the realization that he should maybe just thank the button for existing instead of questioning it. He can’t see another reality where he could cuddle into his boyfriend like this after having talked about a crush of his, across a table from his boyfriend’s queerplatonic partner when there could potentially also be another queerplatonic partner in the future otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm debating putting in some drama next chapter, what do y'all think? I'd support full fluff or minor drama!


	5. Phase 2: Certitude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slice of Younghoon's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not quite sure how this chapter turned out... But I hope you like it?
> 
> Some terms!:  
> • -ah: A suffix used for those you're close to of the same age or younger than you, used when the name ends in a consonant

There are a lot of customers impatiently waiting for a sorely needed cup of their favorite coffee on a Monday morning at Rainbow Fairy Forest, even if it occupies the corner of the campus that is the farthest away from downtown and thus a significant distance away from where some of them live. Youngjae, unfortunately, has a morning shift.

There’s only one good side to this, and that’s that Younghoon drags himself up earlier every morning he has a morning class and makes his way over to the cafe just to see him. A sympathetic smile- when Younghoon still hasn’t quite woken up- or flirty wink- when Younghoon is feeling sleep-deprived- is enough to help Youngjae power through the rest of his shift with that energetic smile on his face that is part of his character identity, by now.

With him is Minhyung, as per usual- he’s the nice person who takes this shift when he can because he knows no one else wants it, Youngjae has no idea how he does it- but there's also Hyungseo- who got this shift so Minhyung could be around to continue his training- and Joonyoung- his Canadian friend and fellow new person, who Youngho is here to supervise because, like everyone else, he is weak to Minhyung's overwhelmed face, even if Minhyung is fully capable of overseeing two people at once. So, basically, it’s a full English ensemble this morning, and it’s super funny, because Minhyung is from Hyungseo’s hometown, but has lived in Joonyoung’s, and when they’re together for more than five minutes, the conversation starts to devolve into reminiscing about Canada. And then Youngho comes out to roll his eyes at them and Youngjae hides his smile and makes to look as if he was too busy to redirect their conversation back to work and Joonyoung apologizes more sincerely than they need to.

The reason this is routine by now, even though it’s only been one morning, is because it’s happened five times already, the exact same way, the last time being just two minutes ago.

If Youngjae tells Younghoon this, he can bet that his boyfriend’s face will melt into something adorable as he imagines it. The crush he has on Hyungseo is kind of funny too, given that he’s only met him once, that too after crashing into Chanhee and needing to be cleaned up.

But speak of the devil and he will appear. Youngjae catches sight of Younghoon’s silhouette pushing through the glass doors with a haste that suggests he’s trying to get away from the morning sun. He’s wearing a beautiful pinkish purple suit, for some reason- he’s just going to class, Youngjae has no idea why he’s so dressed up, but it’s not like he’s complaining, not when he can ogle at his boyfriend being all dressed up like this- so yeah, Youngjae can see why he would need the refuge. Surprisingly, however, Chanhee is right next to him, in the same simple long-sleeved white shirt and black pants he’d been wearing the day Youngjae met him.

 _I didn’t think he was the morning type_ , Youngjae thinks as he takes an order. _Guess I was wrong?_

From somewhere behind him, Hyungseo groans and Minhyung laughs sheepishly. _Now there’s someone who can’t deal with the morni-_

A lightbulb goes off in Youngjae’s head.

“Hey, Kevin? How do you feel about handling the register?”

~

Younghoon looks up from the checkered white and black tiled floor, expecting to see Youngjae-yah at the counter, as always, but finds someone else there entirely.

Chanhee-yah is squinting, bored, at his phone, scrolling through Lovelyz posts on his Twitter feed, because, as Younghoon has discovered, he is _“a man with taste, obviously”_. And he clearly wishes he was still asleep, happily dreaming about his ult group, if not for Younghoon dragging him up and out of bed just because he wanted Youngjae-yah and him to get closer, after that first day. But the point is that he’s the one at Younghoon’s side, leaning onto him in his sleepiness, and Younghoon can see the exact moment he snaps out of his daze when Younghoon slips out of his position as support to tug frantically on his sleeve instead.

“What?” Chanhee-yah squints up at him, cranky.

Younghoon knows his lower lip is jutting out in a way that neither Youngjae-yah nor Chanhee-yah can seem to resist. “It’s him! That guy that helped get the whipped cream off me that day we got coffee all over Johnny-hyung’s jacket!”

“Oh, the new guy you have a crush on?” Chanhee-yah hums, clearly uninterested. Younghoon whines. “I don’t see what you want me to do about it. Do you want your coffee or not? Because I do, especially since you woke me up at ass o’clock in the morning for this. I was dreaming I was at a Lovelyz concert, you know? You know how difficult that is to come by when I have no freaking money to actually go to one?”

“I’m sorry!” Younghoon whines, pitiful, and Chanhee-yah relents for him, beckoning at him to bend down a little so he can pat his head in what’s probably supposed to be a comforting way, but instead comes off a bit too hard with the incoordination that comes with trying to operate on less sleep that you’re used to. “Can you order for me?”

Chanhee-yah sighs, the tone exasperated, but the expression on his face when he looks at him fond. “Yeah, sure. Our usual?”

Younghoon nods happily and bends further so he can rub his head into the crook of Chanhee-yah’s neck. Chanhee-yah just lets him, rubbing softly at the knob on the back of his neck as he does.

Except, as the line progresses and the person at the register finally steps away after paying for their order, Chanhee-yah freezes at the sight of Kevin.

To be completely fair, Kevin seems to be frozen at the sight of them too, gaze darting between Chanhee-yah, whose lips are parted, but no words are coming out, and Younghoon himself, wrapped around Chanhee-yah’s arm and hunching like he’s trying to disappear behind him.

Is it Younghoon’s imagination or is Youngjae-yah snickering somewhere in the background?

Kevin only snaps out of it when Mark comes to the register, with a quick glance at the line behind them, and says something in English, in that sweet, worried voice of his, that Younghoon can deduce is probably something along the lines of, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah!” Kevin exclaims, a bit too loudly, startling Chanhee-yah out of his reverie, and that’s the only thing Younghoon is able to distinguish as he responds in English with something that is clearly a little too frantic to be reassuring. Mark leaves them with worry written all over his face and not-so-sneaky glances back at them, but Younghoon catches Youngjae-yah leading him away with a mischievous grin out of the corner of his eye.

So it wasn’t his imagination after all.

“So, uh,” Kevin starts, switching back to Korean. Younghoon bites his lip. “What would you guys like to order?”

It's only Younghoon’s incessant tugging which gets Chanhee-yah to stutter out their order, but it's not only Younghoon who notices the way Kevin's eyes widen as he says it.

"Chocolate drizzle on one and strawberry on the other, please." Chanhee-yah says. 

"No way." Kevin quietly exclaims back. He startles and glances up at them sheepishly, as if he hadn't meant to say that. It's a genuine struggle for Younghoon to stop himself from cooing. The way Chanhee-yah reaches down to squeeze tightly at his hand communicates the same. "That's my order too!"

The hand clasped in his tightens as Younghoon's mouth drops open. Kevin nods, still looking shy. "Yeah, I just like mine with a lot of caramel on top. Which is why I was surprised when you two said you liked it too. Especially with the added drizzle on top. No one really gets that because the whipped cream already makes it so expensive. So what's your name? And will that be here or to go?"

When it takes Chanhee-yah just a second too long to answer, Younghoon glances up at his face to see lost in some candy land, where Chanhee-yah is probably with Johnny-hyung and Younghoon is hopefully with Youngjae-yah, and he, Younghoon, and Kevin are drinking their orders, Chanhee-yah's half whipped cream, like he likes it, Younghoon's with less whipped cream in favor of the sweetness of the strawberry flavoring, and Kevin's to normal proportions, except for the excess of caramel drizzled on top.

Now Younghoon's imagining it too. This fantasy land, where Chanhee-yah and Younghoon are with the people they love and Kevin agrees to join because he could be a new-

"New!" Chanhee-yah blurts. Both Younghoon and Kevin startle, looking at him in surprise. _Probably for different reasons_ , Younghoon amends, because there’s no way Kevin too was reading his mind. Chanhee-yah looks startled himself, rushing to explain himself with one too many rapid blinks of the eye. “Uh- I mean- um. My- My name! I- Is, uh, New. You can, um. You can put the order under “New”. And here. Please.”

By the end of his clearly bullshit little speech, Chanhee-yah is looking many shades of embarrassed and Kevin is looking a lot like he’s trying his ultimate hardest not to laugh. Younghoon, sympathetic, finally starts to unravel himself from his partner’s arm.

“Sure thing, “New”-ssi,” Kevin snorts, and it’s an ugly sound and Younghoon- and Chanhee-yah, who briefly blinks out of his embarrassment at the sound- is a little too enamored with it to mind.

“I’ll pay,” Younghoon whispers into Chanhee-yah’s ear, loud enough for Kevin to hear. “Do you want to find us somewhere to sit?”

Chanhee-yah nods furiously, face gone back to its striking shade of red, and darts off before Kevin can say anything. Younghoon watches him go and feels his heart pound with affection at the way Chanhee-yah runs, small and cute and so, so squeezable. Younghoon prides himself in the fact that he’s one of the few people who can actually say that to Chanhee-yah’s face and get away with it.

_Does Chanhee-yah actually let Johnny-hyung hug him if hyung says something like that to him, then?_

Younghoon hands Kevin his card and smiles softly when Kevin sends him an entirely unnecessary smile in thanks. His face, as he swipes Younghoon’s card for him, is utterly adorable, because he looks like he’s trying to concentrate, but every now and then, he either takes a glance at Chanhee-yah or Younghoon himself, the latter of which leaves him blushing when Younghoon meets his eyes with a steadfast stare.

Younghoon feels a lot like when he first met Chanhee-yah, a nervous jar of butterflies at first, rattling with the force of their flapping in his chest, when suddenly something clicked, and Younghoon found himself confident in a way he rarely indulges, all parts the prince Youngjae-yah so often calls him. He isn’t quite sure what clicked in the time it took them to order, but he feels the same way now, suddenly confident, suddenly connected to the air around him, Youngjae-yah in the corner, watching them victoriously, Chanhee-yah at a table, watching them nervously, Kevin right in front of him, fighting a happy smile unsuccessfully.

“It’ll be out for you in a bit, Kim Younghoon-ssi,” Kevin says, handing him his card back. Younghoon breaks out into a kind smile.

“You can drop the -ssi. If you want.”

Kevin looks a bit startled, but then breaks out into a tentative smile. “Then, Younghoon-hyung. My name is Moon Hyungseo- or, well. It says that on my name tag- but you can call me Kevin. If you want.”

And Younghoon feels it, the rush of something warm and powerful, taking over his features in an expression that often leaves Youngjae-yah desperate for hugs and kisses and Chanhee-yah uncharacteristically speechless. It feels a lot like _promise_.

“Sure thing, Kevin-ah.”

~

Here’s the thing Younghoon hates about Mondays: the start of his week of morning classes.

Yes, he was the lovelorn idiot who took all the morning classes he could when he found out Youngjae-yah got stuck with the morning shift for the semester.

No, he doesn’t regret it. Not really. He can stay awake during his classes. Kind of. Taking notes usually helps. Especially when he notices his handwriting drifting into something small, light, and unintelligible. That’s usually a good wake up call that makes him focus a little harder for a good amount of time. He might not even drift off for the rest of the lecture! If he’s lucky.

It’s whatever. As long as he can make time to see Youngjae-yah, who is a whole three years under him and therefore doesn’t have many opportunities to share classes with him, he can deal with it.

Now here’s the thing Younghoon loves about Mondays: that one miracle class he actually does get to share with his friends, just because he was too lazy to fulfill a basic requirement in his first year.

So it’s him in his pinkish purple suit, Juyeonie in full white and a green blazer, Hak in a similar full-color-and-statement-blazer ensemble, Hwall in a pink blazer and high waisted pants, and Sunwoo-yah in a white shirt that’s clearly Hwall’s and stylishly baggy shiny green pants in an Analysis Of Dance History and Cultural Impact Across The World class which fulfills some sort of social studies or history requirement for some reason Younghoon doesn’t quite understand. But it’s better than taking actual history or some government class, so Younghoon accepts it without questioning.

“You know,” Sunwoo-yah murmurs, crouched over his desk, chin buried in the shiny green cropped puffer jacket he’d had slung over his shoulder when he walked into the room as a ballet dancer flies across the screen. Younghoon winces- he doesn’t know how he manages to stretch his legs that far. Younghoon could never. “Yein-noona showed up out of nowhere the other day. I totally forgot to tell you.”

“What?” Younghoon and Juyeonie exclaim at the same time, a little too loud for the darkened room. Hwall sends a charming, placating smile that’s been characteristic of him since childhood- when Younghoon first moved into the neighborhood and met the family friends friends Kim Sunwoo and Heo Hyunjoon- the professor’s way and his eyes soften at the sight of it- everyone is weak to Hwall’s beautiful smiles. Everyone is weak to Hwall’s beautiful everything, really- before turning back to the screen to watch a new ballet clip come into play, this time with a group of dancers.

“Yeah.” Sunwoo says nonchalantly, but since Younghoon’s been friends with him since he was a baby that needed help to push his and Hwall’s swings _“just a little higher!”_ each time, he can sense the undercurrent of amazement in his voice. Hak, ever the cutie in their little group, just smiles widely to himself, likely reminiscing about his girlfriend’s sudden visit, cheeks as pink as the pink on his blazer. Younghoon is happy for him. They don’t get to meet as often as they would like to. It would be a bigger tragedy if they didn’t all understand Yein’s circumstances. “Didn’t think she’d be free anytime soon, but I guess she was just trying to surprise Hak-hyung? Anyways, she came in looking sick and we got to spend some time with her after Gen Psych.”

“She was sick?” Juyeonie furrows his eyebrows.

“No,” Hwall steps in to explain. “It was all makeup. Really good makeup. Like, her eyes, nose, and cheeks were all red and she was sweating buckets- probably because she was wearing some really heavy looking clothes- but it really did look like she was sick, people were actually avoiding her. Hak-hyung panicked for a good few minutes before she finally got him to calm down.”

“I was worried!” Hak defends himself, pouting. Younghoon is weak against his pout. Well, Sunwoo-yah would probably say Younghoon is weak against everything, but also everyone is weak against adorable, playful little Hakkie, so it all evens out in that aspect.

“It’s okay.” Younghoon soothes, patting his back sweetly. “If I were you, I would be worried too.”

Hak latches onto Younghoon’s arm and sticks his tongue out at everyone else. Sunwoo-yah rolls his eyes, even if an amused smile is playing on his lips, and Hwall grins. Juyeonie is just looking at all of them with a fond smile on his face, patting Hak’s head. Younghoon can relate to the feeling. He loves being together like this.

“She said we should tell you she said hi and she wishes she could see you another day when she’s free again.” Hak turns on Younghoon’s shoulder to pout up at him and Juyeonie and Juyeonie pats his cheek in thanks.

“Tell her that we miss her too and we can’t wait to see her again whenever you get to talk to her next, okay?”

Hak beams up at them and Younghoon coos down at him. Unlike Hwall, Sunwoo-yah, and Youngjae-yah, Hak acts like a genuine baby all the time and it’s genuinely hard for the hyungs not to pamper him when he starts acting cute like this. But speaking of acting cute…

“Youngjae-yah tells me he has a crush on this boy in your Gen Psych class?”

“Ah, Lee Jeno?” Sunwoo-yah asks, bored, while Hak and Hwall straighten up and stare at them, surprised.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was his name.”

“He’s a silent guy.” Sunwoo-yah begins, without preamble. Younghoon doesn’t fight the slight fond smile that takes over his face. Sunwoo-yah knows him best, having spent the most time with him since childhood. Hwall too, who’d begun eagerly leaning in Sunwoo-yah’s direction even before Sunwoo-yah had opened his mouth to explain. “Doesn’t talk much, takes proper notes, unless he’s actually just spending the whole class doodling in that gigantic notebook of his, I can’t actually see what he’s writing. Friends with Johnny-hyung’s large ass group. And the foreign group, but mostly everyone in there is part of Johnny-hyung’s gigantic group, so I don’t really see the point in specially mentioning that. Eric-ssi totally melts when he sees him smile though. Or, well, Eric-ssi just melts really slowly staring at him for as long as he does in class, but then the guy smiles and Eric-ssi kind of just dies. It’s kind of funny, the guy looks totally serious until he smiles. And then he turns into a kind of, like, Hak-hyung? It’s totally a full face smile and yeah, it’s cute. And he laughs a lot around his friends too, so if Eric-ssi ever catches him together with Mark-ssi and the rest of them after class, he kind of just stays rooted at the spot for a while until they leave. It’s kind of pathetic. He needs more friends. So they don’t let him stay in his seat for that long and let him stare like some sort of lovelorn idiot.”

Younghoon frowns at him disapprovingly, even as he takes the time to ingest all the information Sunwoo-yah unloaded on him. “You should be his friend then. Talk to him more so he isn’t so alone in that class. And don’t say it’s pathetic, Youngjae-yah is cute when he’s in love! Well, he’s cute always, but he’s cute when he’s got a crush.”

Hak coos at him, Hwall rolls his eyes, and Sunwoo-yah sends him a sidelong, judgemental stare. “Sure, hyung.”

Younghoon pouts. Juyeonie chuckles. “Okay, okay, let’s not pick on poor Younghoon-ah.”

“Yeah! Let’s not pick on poor Younghoon-ah!” Younghoon repeats, pouting indignantly. Juyeonie’s smile grows and he switches his hand from Hak’s head to pat his. Younghoon nestles into it, letting his pout fall.

And then the room completely fades to black after whatever they were supposed to be watching ends. Younghoon belatedly makes out Sunwoo-yah casually righting himself before the professor flicks the lights on, as if he was watching the whole entire time, and then it’s Hwall and Sunwoo-yah nonchalant and the right way up in their seats to the right and Hak, Younghoon, and Juyeonie in a little tangled cuddle pile to their left as the professor turns around. Mortified, Younghoon can see the professor’s eyes linger a little at the three of them as he sweeps the room to check to see if anyone fell asleep before he moves on to their right, where Hwall has the nerve to give him his infuriating, charming smile again

Younghoon’s pout comes back in full force and he turns to bury his face in Juyeonie’s shoulder. Juyeonie just pats his head awkwardly and when Younghoon peeks up at him, he can see him trying hard not to look like he’s dying himself. Hak pats his shoulder, but even though Younghoon isn’t actually seeing him, he can tell it’s a sheepish move too.

By the time class is over, Younghoon is still mortified, Juyeonie has stiffened up magnificently under him, and Hak is long over his embarrassment, jumping up and urging them all to get up so they can leave.

Younghoon doesn’t understand where all the young kids get their brazenness from.

Hak's pulling gets Sunwoo-yah up in a tired huff, right arm caught in Hak’s two hands, left arm slinging his green cropped puffer jacket over his shoulder. Younghoon opens his mouth to warn Hwall when the sleeve swings towards his face, but luckily the boy is quick enough to bat it away with a quiet sigh, draping softly like the length of his long, pink blazer and silver earrings. Satisfied, Younghoon also stands, encouraging Juyeonie to stand up with him.

For a second, it’s like everything quietens as they head out the door, surprisingly uncrowded although class has already ended. The quiet only lasts for a few minutes, however, when it’s broken with a booming yell.

“Kim Sunwoo! Heo Hyunjoon! Wait up!”

Sunwoo-yah jumps, the perpetual scaredy cat he is. Hwall’s eyes just flicker to him in amusement before he turns to face the loud, brown-haired boy in the white button down, blue vest, and jeans who called out to them. The boy grins sheepishly.

“Sorry. I forgot you scare easily.”

Sunwoo-yah glares and Juyeonie chuckles at him.

“Who’s this?”

“Hey!” The boy smiles, turning to them. My name is Choi Jongho, I’m friends with these childhood friends Sunwoo and Hyunjoon here. Oh, and Eric too, while we’re at it.”

“Oh!” Younghoon exclaims in recognition, hearing his name. “Youngjae-yah mentioned you a few times! You’re the one who breaks the apples really easily, aren’t you?”

Hwall and Jongho both snort. “I mean, yeah. Man, that story just flies everywhere, doesn’t it?”

“Jongho-yah, your strength is literally your one defining factor.” Hwall says easily, letting Jongho fall into step with him as he starts walking again. Taking the cue, Younghoon and the group follow.

“Hey!” Jongho protests, and minutely, Younghoon finds himself flinching.

“That, and your volume.” Sunwoo-yah drawls from beside him. “Tone it down, my guy.”

“Sorry.” Jongho says with a sheepish grin. “After spending all that time with Wooyoung-hyung and San-hyung, I feel like my sense of what’s an acceptable volume has gone haywire."

"Ah, speaking of people he knows," Sunwoo-yah cuts in abruptly, and Jongho huffs in annoyance. Sunwoo-yah just ignores him. "Jongho's also friends with Lee Jeno's little gang. Well, just the '00 liners. Honestly, Jongho's friends with most of the '00 liners on campus? But anyways, if you want to ask anything, you might as well ask now."

"Ah, is this about the crush?"

Younghoon is surprised. "You know?"

"Ah, don't worry, it's not like Sunwoo-yah is going around talking about your boyfriend's crush or anything," Jongho rushes to explain, and Younghoon is grateful, even if he doesn't doubt for a second that Sunwoo-yah would never. "Jeno-yah totally has a crush on him too."

"He does?"

"Yeah, it's totally obvious, he's just a bit shy. But don't worry, as long as they actually end up talking to each other one day, your boyfriend will be in totally good hands. Even if he looks cold, Jeno-yah is actually just super sweet. Totally unlike a certain Kim Sunwoo here."

Sunwoo-yah doesn't deign to respond, but everyone bursts out into laughter around them, Jongho included. Warmth spreads through Younghoon as he giggles. Youngjae-yah's crush likes him back. How cute is that?

"So what are you doing all dressed up today?" Jongho asks once they've gotten over their laughter. "Seriously, it’s like you’re modeling or something- Sunwoo-yah's got some kind of awkward gangster concept going, but, like, if you're trying to be gangster, commit, what is this weird fusion of gangster and Hwall? Either do gangster and keep the lip ring or do Hwall and stick with the crop tops both of you are wearing right now!”

Sunwoo-yah rolls his eyes and Jongho just powers on with his tirade that is progressively making Younghoon redder in the face regardless. “Meanwhile, Hwall is out here pulling a normal Hwall, but the fact that the rest of you are wearing blazers too? Like, yeah, Sunwoo looks fancy right now, but the rest of you look way fancier. I mean, seriously, it's like a full lineup here, everyone can't stop staring. I'm standing right next to you and I feel like I can't look at you for too long or I'll go blind.”

“Oh, really?” Younghoon asks absentmindedly, usure if he should be feeling complimented or judged. To his side, Juyeonie and Hwall preen, the forever attention-seekers the pair of them are, but Hak just giggles like the cutie he is and Sunwoo-yah, as he's been doing for the past something minutes, just snorts derisively.

_So that’s why it felt like everyone went quiet when we were leaving class._

“Ah, you’re the Yeosang-hyung type, aren’t you?” Jongho asks him.

“What? What’s a “Yeosang-hyung type”?”

“Like, you’re really handsome, but for some reason you don’t notice when everyone stares at you for it.”

Younghoon blushes, Sunwoo-yah snorts at him, and Hak just plain cackles.

"Well, I mean, Yeosang-hyung _notices_ , but it's, like, for all the wrong reasons. But Seonghwa-hyung totally notices for all the right reasons, so I can't say you're his type and those two are the only "how the hell do you exist?" type of hyungs I know."

"If we're talking about a Seonghwa-hyung type, that would be Juyeon-hyung, here." Hak muses. Juyeonie splutters.

"Jaehyun-hyung would probably fit too." Sunwoo-yah muses right alongside him. "But, like, Jaehyun-hyung always notices and really doesn't care. Juyeon-hyung only notices when it's really obvious."

Hwall obviously understands where his point is going, cutting in with an obnoxious grin. "And then he gets that weird little smirk on his face and starts raising his eyebrows at us, all, "Did you see that? Did you see that, hm?" Like we care? At all?"

Juyeonie’s jaw drops in offense, and Younghoon hurries to pat his back placatingly, diverting the topic of conversation back to what it had started out as. “Haknyeon-ah’s girlfriend’s birthday is coming up in around a month and we don’t get to see her often, so we’re having a photoshoot for her today and Haknyeon-ah is going to put the pictures in a little scrapbook or album or something we haven’t quite decided on yet for her.”

“Aw, that’s cute! But if it’s in a month, why do it now? Like, no offence, but I totally feel like you could do this on the week of and be done with it.”

“If we start this early, we’ll have time to fix things if they go wrong.” Hwall explains for them. “You don’t understand how rare it is for us to be able to see her, we’re literally lucky to be able to see her once a year. We want it to be special for her. If we have enough things left after a scrapbook, we’ll make an album, if we have stuff left after an album, we can put them on those DIY mugs. Literally nothing’s too much, at that point.”

Hak nods with a determined purse of his lips. Younghoon is still bummed he didn’t get to see her whenever she showed up to Hak, Hwall, and Sunwoo-yah’s classroom.

Jongho’s mouth drops. “Wow, does she live overseas or something?”

“You can say that.” Sunwoo-yah smirks, eyes sliding to meet Hak’s before sliding forward again.

“Good luck with that then.” Jongho wishes them with a sincere smile. Hak returns his smile with a grateful nod of his own. “This is where I leave you though, I head in the opposite direction.”

“Cool, bye.” Sunwoo-yah drops without missing a beat. Jongho huffs.

“I literally don’t know why I’m friends with you.”

“Bye, Jongho-yah. From Sunwoo-yah too, you know how he is.” Hwall appeases sweetly, with that charming, placating smile of his. Jongho deflates easily, tossing a wave behind him and a glare at Sunwoo-yah as he leaves. His leaving starts the countdown to their planning and photoshoot travelling before the sky gets too dark.

~

By the time they finish for the day, it’s exactly as dark as they were planning on avoiding and Younghoon is sweating through his plain white shirt, the heat trapped under his shiny suit still encouraging sweat to accumulate under his arms and in the back of his knees.

On the plus side, the sunset had given them unexpectedly charming pictures, so now Hak has a variety to choose from when he settles down to convert what they’ve done today from photo format to whatever he’s decided on turning them into.

They stop by the cafe on Younghoon’s request as they’re walking back so Younghoon can pick up Youngjae-yah up as his shift ends- Youngjae-yah, the precious baby, had offered to take over for someone even though he had an early morning shift that day, the least Younghoon can do for him is be there to pick him up when they close.

The usual bustle of the cafe has faded out to nothing and there are barely people inside, staff themselves interspersed between the three levels. Younghoon can’t see Youngjae-yah when he peers through the glass doors, so he must be on a higher level, cleaning up. Younghoon will forever wonder at Johnny-hyung’s forethought in buying a three story building for his cafe. On one hand, their concept brings in a lot of different types of customers from the coffee-goers of the first floor to the loungers of the second floor to the studiers of the third floor to just those looking for an aesthetic picture, ideal for the university campus it is set within. On the other hand, Younghoon often finds himself offering to help Youngjae-yah clean up, if only so they can spend time together, often alone in a prettily decorated floor, laughter ringing between the floor and tables when Youngjae-yah inevitably tosses something at him and starts a little war.

Left within the first floor is a woman with her child and… a harried looking Kevin.

On second look, the woman is clearly angry, her child is crying loudly, and Kevin looks like he’s trying to achieve a modest apology and gently herd the duo out at the same time.

Younghoon frowns. Whomever this is looks like a troublesome customer. He’s never seen a rude customer himself and Youngjae-yah has never told him stories of any annoying people, so he finds it just a little hard to believe that someone could actually be so ungrateful, but the longer the woman continues to scream and the more Kevin’s face darkens, the more Younghoon finds an ugly feeling accumulating in himself, unfamiliar, but increasingly welcome. A glance to his right has Hwall already placing a warning hand on Sunwoo-yah’s now jacket-covered shoulder as he gives a dangerously low annoyed huff, although Hwall himself is sporting furrowed eyebrows, and a glance to his left finds Hak surprisingly wearing a grim expression that mirrors Juyeonie’s own, looking equally terrifying in their matching full-color-and-statement-blazer ensembles. Something flickers in his periphery and Younghoon turns back to the scene beyond the glass door, in the lighter part of the floor where the lights are all congregated because it’s closing time and this woman shouldn’t be here at all.

Chanhee-yah steps out of the back office, red and black biker jacket in hand.

Younghoon can see the exact moment Chanhee-yah sees Kevin, blush stealing over his face the way it had with Younghoon himself, back when they were too shy to talk to each other. He can also see the exact moment his gaze focuses on the woman and her crying child, with a drink Younghoon can now see clutched perilously in a too-tight grip.

He isn’t certain the drink will survive, if her distressed grip gets any tighter. The idea that, if anything bursts, it’ll be Kevin’s job to clean up the mess sets something alight in Younghoon’s veins.

His eyes flicker up to Chanhee-yah, again, and he is surprised to see that Chanhee-yah is looking back at him. The fire in his gaze stuns him, roots him to the ground, sets him further ablaze.

Chanhee-yah is… outspoken. Feisty, spitfire, entire warrior angel packed into his little body.

He is also quiet. Prefers to stay out of trouble’s way, doesn’t speak unless spoken to, if he doesn’t know a person well, directs attention off himself, if he can help it.

Chanhee-yah’s gaze, in this moment, is molten lava, too bright to cool down, too much to not overflow. It speaks of action.

Chanhee-yah moves forward.

In an uncoordinated lurch, Younghoon is jolted into action, throwing open the doors in a haste to get to his partner and their mutual queerplatonic crush before any possible harm befalls them both.

“Hyung!” He can hear Hak calling in alarm behind him, but the door swings shut behind him in the next second and Younghoon finds he could care less in this given moment.

“- I’m the manager here,” Chanhee-yah’s words come into focus, the closer Younghoon gets to them. Not for the first time, Younghoon mentally curses the size of the place.

“That’s perfect,” the woman scoffs. She jerks her child forward, gesturing angrily at her drink. “Your _employee_ here didn’t give my girl any extra whipped cream! Can you believe this outrage?!”

Younghoon cannot fucking believe all this fuss is over whipped cream. The look on Chanhee-yah’s face communicates the same, through the pinched anger.

“You never asked for extra whipped cream, ma’am.” Kevin says, eyes fluttering closed in exasperation, sounding as if he’s repeating the same thing for the millionth time. Younghoon wouldn’t be surprised if he really is.

“Do I need to _ask_?!” The woman flies into a louder frenzy at his words. The sheer nerve of her is really keying Younghoon tighter than he’s ever felt before, annoyed rage potent poison in his veins. “Do you not see how young she is?! Obviously she deserves extra whipped cream with her order!”

No, it is not obvious at all.

Chanhee-yah is visibly tampering down on his anger. “No, ma’am, regardless of apparent age or suppositions, if you have a specific request for your drink, you must voice this in your order. This is the same procedure for- those who have nut allergies, let’s say. The- Our employees have no way of knowing whether a customer has nut allergies or not, the customers themselves have to cater their drink to their needs while ordering. Our employees can’t just assume whether a customer has nut allergies or not. Just like that, Kev- Hyungseo here, isn’t simply just able to assume your daughter _requires_ extra whipped cream with her order.”

The woman takes a dramatic step backwards, hand raising to her chest, before she scoffs, voice raising in pitch in her pure offense. For the life of him, Younghoon doesn’t know what she could possibly be offended about. He honestly still doesn’t understand how she thinks whipped cream is worth all the trouble she’s causing.

At _closing_ time too.

“You too?! I will not stand for this! The second I step out of this shop, I will write the worst review you’ve ever gotten! I’ll tell all my friends and family to avoid this place! Do you hear me?!”

“Ma’am-” Kevin tries. He stops when his gaze flickers to Younghoon, quiet and menacing behind the woman. The twitch of his mouth is overwhelmed. Chanhee-yah’s gaze is on him too.

It’s empowering.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you, ma’am.” Younghoon finds himself saying. It’s a sort of out-of-body experience, hearing his voice that low and threatening, watching the woman spin around and look up at him, the sparks of realization that this may not end well for her beginning to light up in the unprotected corners of her expression. Still, she tries to defend herself.

“And who are you to-”

“My _partner_ here,” Younghoon says, tugging regally at his suit like people do in the movies, drawing the woman’s trembling gaze to his outfit, “owns this fine establishment and I invest quite a lot into it. It would trouble me if you went around laying his hard work and my money to waste.”

The woman opens her mouth to argue, but Younghoon won’t let her. He’s running on anger like he rarely ever is and it’s a sort of empowering feeling, watching her bravado crumble in the face of his.

“Grounds for a lawsuit, I would say. Defamation is serious business.”

She goes white. Kevin’s jaw drops behind her. Chanhee-yah smirks in triumph.

“Now there are two ways this can go.” He says, picking up from where Younghoon’s left off. “You can either leave peacefully and not spread lies about my place _or_ I can let my sweetheart enact justice on my behalf. Me _and_ my employee.”

All of a sudden, Younghoon’s bravado is nowhere to be found. He can act rich, sure, but he has no real way of actually making her leave. What if she doesn’t just go peacefully, after all this?

“You heard the man.” A new voice says, and all of a sudden, Sunwoo-yah is next to him, and Younghoon can see Youngjae-yah and Hyunjae-yah at the stairs in the distance, watching the situation go down with the other new Canadian and the rest of Chanhee-yah’s side of the friend group. Belatedly, Younghoon wonders why they’re here so late.

“If you don’t leave, ma’am, I’ll be forced to assume you mean my charge trouble and will take appropriate action.” Sunwoo-yah continues, voice low and dangerous, even to Younghoon, and the woman’s jaw clicks shut at a painful volume that has Younghoon wincing internally and Kevin, not so much so as she whirls around to him in disbelief. She gives him a very obvious once-over, at his red hair, lip ring, cropped top, and matching cropped jacket and baggy pants, that has her lips pulling into a disgusting leer, even if the rest of her is caving to the pressure.

“Please,” she sneers, and the acidic sound of it makes the hairs on the back Younghoon’s skin stand up. “You couldn’t possibly be a bodyguard looking like _that_ , you _-_ ”

Then Younghoon’s heart drops into his stomach as her arm draws back in the air, slow motion like the startled scream that tears out of Hyunjae-yah’s throat as he jumps down the stairs like he’ll get close enough to stop the woman from-

The slap never comes. Sunwoo-yah is still, hand flexing around the woman’s wrist, eyes glittering with vicious promise, death in the perk of his lips. Everything about him screams that he will strike if one wrong move is made and Chanhee-yah and Kevin freeze, as the woman does, her child frightened silent in terror. Hwall is coming in the store, at the sight of Sunwoo-yah so close to snapping, and Hyunjae-yah is closing in on their position, and it’s this that tells Younghoon it’s okay to turn away, that the situation will be taken care of, so he can focus on Chanhee-yah and Kevin-ah.

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence, if I were you.” Sunwoo-yah snarls as Younghoon tosses the woman one last derisive glance, before catching Chanhee-yah’s gaze. It snaps him out of his daze, has him reaching out towards Kevin-ah.

“Are you okay?” Chanhee-yah asks softly. Hyunjae-yah rushes past Younghoon as he makes his way over to them, and Younghoon spares a moment to press a soothing hand on his arm, a reminder to calm down. A similar hand is placed on Kevin-ah’s shoulder.

Kevin-ah looks between the two of them, glances at the situation being handled beyond them, and then sighs. “I- yeah. I guess. Didn’t expect to face that when I just joined, but I guess it’s experience?”

“Trust me, it isn’t.” Younghoon mutters.

“Yeah,” Chanhee-yah agrees, “the people who come here are usually much more reasonable. I don’t know what this lady was thinking, but hopefully we never see her again.”

“At least, not unless she apologizes first.” Younghoon nods.

Kevin looks back out beyond them, where the woman and her child have been escorted outside and hopefully away, into the night. He bites his lip. “This won’t turn into a big issue, will it?”

“Whatever happens, Johnny-hyung will always be on your side.” Chanhee-yah assures him. “That lady was in the fault. Even if he doesn’t take your word for it- which I don’t see happening- we can camera footage to prove it. Plus, she was about to say something very disrespectful and even made the first move towards getting physical- if she tries anything, she isn’t getting away scot-free.”

Kevin-ah still looks unsure, looking down at where he’s twisting his hands nervously into each other. Younghoon’s gaze flickers to Chanhee-yah beside him, and then Youngjae-yah, who’s now significantly closer to them. They both nod in the affirmative to him.

“Kevin-ah, would you like to come over to our place?” Kevin-ah’s head shoots up to meet his gaze. There’s no reason for him to agree, really. He barely knows them, and whatever may be blooming between them can bloom on another, less stressful day. For all Younghoon knows, he may just want to go home with his Canadian friend or be alone, rest and recuperate however suits him best. But, Younghoon would like to think, the look in his eyes is telling them he would appreciate it very much if they could take his mind off of what just happened.

So that’s what they do. They take him back to Younghoon’s place, a hand always soothing somewhere on Kevin-ah’s body, a constant stream of soft conversation between them so he doesn’t sink back into his thoughts, a soft smile whenever he can bring himself to look them in the eye.

They procure a spare change of clothes for him when they get home, Chanhee-yah gets hot chocolate and a movie ready while he changes out of his uniform, and Younghoon fishes out extra toiletries and confirms that Juyeonie will be at his boyfriend’s tonight.

They barely know him, but he stays over that night and they cuddle him to sleep.


	6. Phase 2.5: Coalescence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changmin reconsiders the two youngsters of his friend group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a bit late, I'm sorry about that, but I had a really lovely but completely unexpected- hmm, what to call it- relief time? With my friend last night and I was really sated and happy and tired by the end of it- wait, that sounds like we had sex, but we cried! It was crying!- I didn't really want to stay up and finish the rest of a barely written Phase, so I ended up finishing it now, 4 hours after I woke up. The end result, I think, is much better than anything I could have forced myself to come up with had I stayed up last night.
> 
> Words to know for this Phase:  
> • -nim: A suffix indicating respect!

Sunwoo is scary. This is what Ji Changmin realizes after that night at the cafe where their meeting with their graduated-and-in-the-workforce friend, Sangyeon, went sour. Yeah, he looked like he would maybe fight that woman that night, and yeah, maybe that was a bit terrifying, but honestly, Changmin was ready to do something similar the second the lady lifted her hand the wrong way.

It’s the days after that Changmin finds him most scary for: namely right now, him sitting across from one Heo Hyunjoon trying desperately to think past the dryness of his throat when he has this sudden growing attraction for the boy after watching him calm down an about-to-blow Kim Sunwoo and an unusually agitated Lee Jaehyun.

Changmin doesn’t know how Sunwoo knew, it was only one night and Sunwoo didn’t even look at Changmin once while the entire exchange was going on, but suddenly he’s hearing, _“I’m taking Jaehyun-hyung, obviously, and Younghoon-hyung and Chanhee-hyung are the next obvious thing, so that means Hak-hyung and Juyeon-hyung are together, which leaves Hwall with Changmin-hyung, is that alright, Sangyeon-hyung?”_ and the next thing he knows, he’s been naturally paired off with Heo Hyunjoon for the vigilance they’ve decided to maintain for the rest of the month in case the lady comes back with more trouble. It should be okay, what with finals looming up, Changmin has more or less occupied Chanhee’s spot at the top floor with his bag of books. It’s ideal, because here, Changmin has a bird’s eye view of who’s coming in and out of the store, so he doesn’t have to try and study on the first floor where people are more likely to come up to talk to him than not and after the first day, Hyunjoon has followed his example too, bringing his own study material with him and taking the occasional glance out the window. Except Changmin is taking more than the occasional glance out the window because he can’t stop looking up at Hyunjoon, clad today in a pink blazer like he was the night Changmin suddenly felt his heart skip at the sight of him, except its plaid and he’s wearing matching pants and a bright pink shirt that isn’t cropped. The long silver earrings are on today too, though. Hyunjoon is perpetually dressed up like he’s modeling, Changmin already knows this from all the times he’s spent with him casually talking when the whole group meets up, but he suddenly doesn’t know how he ever survived those meetups and the way Hyunjoon sometimes catches his furtive glances and just _smirks_ , the insufferably hot asshole, Changmin suspects he really wouldn’t have, if Hyunjoon had been this attractive to him then.

Joonyoung, who Hyungseo asked to also be covered by their watch even though his friend wasn’t really involved in the incident at all beyond having the misfortune of being there that day, will be done with their shift soon, so Changmin only has to suffer for a little longer, but… Well, it isn’t like he’s been doing that good of a job of surviving until now. He hasn’t even managed to get past the first chapter of his textbook. It’s been hours. If he can just get to the next chapter, even if only the colorful cover page, he’ll consider today successful.

He just has to get to the next chapter before Joonyoung’s shift ends. It’s not that hard. It shouldn’t be that hard. It can’t be that hard…

He takes a furtive glance up at Hyunjoon.

Hyunjoon is looking right at him, pretty pink lips already caught in a smug little smirk.

Changmin flushes. “I- uh-”

“We should date.”

… Did he hear that right?

There’s no way. His mind isn’t working right with this sudden attraction he has to this dongsaeng he’s only ever talked normally and joked around with before and he’s making up stories, there’s no way Hyunjoon just said-

“Hyung,” Hyunjoon purrs, and Changmin chokes on air. The tone is so- so _seductive_ and he’s playing with one of those magenta highlights he has interspersed between his cocoa brown hair and Changmin can feel his ears burning, his insides burning, his _everything burning_ , because _this can’t be happening_ \- “we should date, hyung.”

“A- Ah, Hyunjoon-ah, I’m not quite sure what you’re saying-”

“You haven’t been able to stop staring at me since we first met up for these watches.”

Changmin can’t _breathe_.

“O- Oh, well then. I’m not sure you know what you’re saying..?”

“Hm, you shouldn’t underestimate the will of someone younger than you, hyung. I know exactly what I’m saying. Besides, it’s not like I’m not attracted to you either, _Q_ -nim.”

His jaw drops to the floor. “You- You _know_ about that?!”

Hyunjoon’s smirk, which had toned down to conversational levels, just widens prettily again as he takes a look down at his phone and gets up. “Jacob-ssi’s shift is over.” His bag is already packed.

“Wa- Wait!” Changmin shouts. Someone shushes him, and he has half the mind to apologize hurriedly, but he’s too busy stuffing his own textbook in his bag and zipping the damn thing shut to really pay them much attention as he chases after Hyunjoon. “Heo Hyunjoon, how did you- how long- wait, you little asshole!”

~

They’re on a date.

Changmin doesn’t really quite know how they got to this point, but he’s sitting across from Hyunjoon on a pretty white table on the first floor of the cafe, a little before their watch officially starts. From where he’s sitting he can clearly see Sunwoo and Jaehyun lounging, not too far away from them, and every so often, Sunwoo looks at them with this smug expression on his face that mirrors Hyunjoon’s and Changmin wants to threaten him with something, except Sunwoo doesn’t get crushes and if Changmin brings anything else up, he gets the feeling Sunwoo will only look up at him with an, “Okay, and?” followed by a disappointed expression- _you’re going to have to try harder than that, hyung_ \- and he’s not ready to take that risk just yet.

Plus. Well. If he hadn’t done anything, Changmin wouldn’t be on a date with Hyunjoon like this now. So. There’s that.

_Ugh._

“This is a lot different from last week, hyung, I’m a bit disappointed.”

“Hm?” Changmin startles, snaps his gaze back to Hyunjoon, who is raising a cocky eyebrow at him and stirring the remains of his milkshake with his straw.

“I mean, you’ve been staring a lot more at Sunwoo than you have been at me… It couldn’t possibly be that you suddenly aren’t attracted to me anymore, could it?” And with that, Hyunjoon’s lips curl up, ever so slightly, as he leans forward and wraps his lips around his straw and _sucks_.

Changmin can’t stop his jaw from dropping. His mouth is dry. He can’t _think_. Hyunjoon is out here killing him and it’s only a first date, but they’ve already known each other for this past year and Changmin can’t understand how it’s suddenly so easy for someone to be able to _play with his heart_ like this-

The slurping of his drink breaks the image and Hyunjoon’s cheeks color as he coughs, the last of his milkshake having gone down the wrong pipe. Changmin finds himself gaping for a different reason, finds his lips curling up delightedly, finds himself giggling as Hyunjoon tries to stifle his coughs, turning embarrassedly away from him.

“Shut up.” Hyunjoon mutters, once he’s gotten his coughs under control.

Changmin only snorts loudly. “I am never going to forget that.”

“ _Hyung!_ ”

~

They go on a second date. And a third. And basically all their watches for the rest of the month coincide with a date. Hyunjoon never stops being a little devil, dressing up for the sole purpose of making Changmin’s mouth go dry, every so often pulling some stunt that makes Changmin want to slap himself across the face so he stops giving Hyunjoon these reactions that so obviously spur the boy on. But then there are those time Hyunjoon gets too absorbed in his schemes to notice anything else that has the potential to interrupt them and then Changmin gets to laugh at him, learns to tease him back as much as Hyunjoon teases him, takes pleasure in watching his cheeks go pink for him like they never seem to do around anyone else.

They also get to be witness to a million other stunts on their dates.

For example, Jaehyun flirts aggressively with Hyungseo whenever the time comes for Sunwoo and he to start their watches alongside his shifts. On one hand, it’s immensely amusing to see, watching Jaehyun be so obnoxiously flirtatious. On the other hand, it’s painful, watching Jaehyun be so obnoxiously flirtatious. On a third hand, it’s cute, watching Jaehyun be so obnoxiously flirtatious and watching Hyungseo blush when he tries hard enough.

They’ve never seen Jaehyun act like this before. Or, well, Changmin knew he could be straightforward and aggressive, what with how he approached Sunwoo after they first met, but seeing him act like this with a crush is taking that to a new level Changmin had never thought to imagine.

When their dates coincide with Sunwoo and Jaehyun’s watches over Hyungseo, Sunwoo will walk over with no regard to the fact that they’re obviously on a date and just spend time with them watching Jaehyun simultaneously make a fool of himself and manage to appear charming doing it.

“You don’t- I don’t know- help him or stop him or anything?” Changmin had asked once.

“Fuck no.” Sunwoo had rolled his eyes. “The way Jaehyun-hyung is going, he’ll get Kevin-ssi’s number in no time. Why would I stop that? Pining is gross to watch. Like, if you’re going to spend all that time blushing around each other, why not just go for it? Why do you think I set you guys up? It’s a good thing Hwall just goes for what he wants if he sees the opportunity, otherwise I would’ve had to pull some strings so it wouldn’t drag on for too long.”

“Mhmm,” Hyunjoon just nodded sagely as Changmin gaped. “Otherwise I would’ve spent long hours bothering you with plans on how to seduce Changmin-hyung.”

“Exactly. You think I want to hear all that? Had to get you together sooner than later.”

“Um- I- excuse me, what?”

~

Changmin finds out exactly what Sunwoo means by pulling strings a few days later. After a short conversation with Joonyoung a little early for their shift as always at the register, they look for an open table to start their watch when they find Sunwoo, alone, still there, at an empty table, waving them over. Wondering why Sunwoo is still there and not with Jaehyun, about to leave as Hyungseo’s shift is about to end, they head over, but he just shushes them with a, “Watch,” when they sit down.

In walks Younghoon with Youngjae. It looks like they might be- unlike Changmin and Hyunjoon, over here with Sunwoo- on a date, what with the way Younghoon is wrapped around Youngjae and Youngjae is slightly blushing. They too have a small conversation with Joonyoung at the register before they get their drinks and start to turn around, to look for a table as Changmin and Hyunjoon had. For a second, Changmin wonders if they’ll be waved over like he and Hyunjoon were, but just then, there’s a loud, aggravated yell that attracts the attention of at least half the floor.

There are two boys, about Hyunjoon’s age, at a table not too far from where they’re sitting. One, with brown hair, is glaring down aggressively at a textbook in front of him. _He must be the one who shouted, then,_ Changmin supposes. The other, with white hair, just smiles, pained, as he makes small, apologetic bows to the people around them. He turns back to the boy with the brown hair and it looks like he’s scolding him for his volume for a second before he leans down over the textbook and starts gesturing at it and Changmin assumes he’s trying to explain whatever it is in another way.

What catches Changmin’s attention, however, is the brown-haired boy, who, instead of hunching over the textbook like the white-haired boy is, looks up, past their direction, right at Younghoon and Youngjae. Youngjae is busy staring at what can only be the white-haired boy, but Younghoon catches the brown-haired boy’s gaze immediately. The boy then slides his gaze to Sunwoo and Younghoon’s follows and while Changmin startles, Hyunjoon just watches on interestedly and Sunwoo simply nods at them and suddenly, Younghoon looks like he understands what’s going on. He turns to Youngjae, breaking him out of his reverie, and gestures towards the boys, where the brown-haired boy is suddenly hunched over his textbook like he’s been paying attention to the white-haired boy’s explanation the whole time. Youngjae blushes in what looks like denial, but Younghoon guides him over to their table regardless.

At their table, Sunwoo fishes out his phone and presses on a number Changmin doesn't recognize, bringing it to his ear. “Hi, Seonghwa-ssi? Yeah, I’m at the Rainbow Fairy Forest cafe now and I found Jongho-yah here and it kind of looks like he’s been studying here for a while? I know he has a final in a week, but I’m wondering if you could maybe come pick him up? I’m worried he might be studying a bit too hard. Oh, no, he’s not alone, but I’ve already called over someone else for his friend. Oh, you’re with your boyfriend? I’m sorry for bothering you then- oh. Okay, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it more if the both of you come get him. In fact, I don’t know if this is asking too much, but if you could just meet up with your whole group later? Yeah, Jongho mentioned something to me about wanting to be babied the other day, I’m guessing it’s been a long time since you all have met up and finals season might be getting to him. No, no, it’s no problem. Yeah, he’s my friend, I have to watch out for him sometimes. Ah, it’s nothing, Seonghwa-ssi- Seonghwa-hyung. Ah- okay. Okay, thank you, bye.”

Sunwoo stares down at his phone when the call ends. “Well. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Changmin wasn’t expecting _any_ of that.

“I knew you cared.” Hyunjoon teases, as if none of this situation phazes him. Sunwoo looks over at Jaehyun, blatantly ignoring him. A customer spills a drink in a loud affair that has Hyungseo leaving Jaehyun’s side to clean it up and only the brown-haired boy and Younghoon look up from the group of four clustered at that table. Younghoon rushes to Hyungseo’s aid immediately, leaving the brown-haired boy in between Youngjae and the white-haired boy who won’t stop blushing at each other, and it’s like a lightbulb clicks on in Sunwoo’s mind as he watches Younghoon try to help with the spill, not realizing he’s making the whole thing worse.

“Wow, it’s like all the stones are just falling into my hand today.” He smirks as he dials what Changmin can see is Chanhee’s number. “Ah, yeah, Chanhee-hyung? Where are you? Oh, that’s close by, this is perfect. You need to study, right? How about studying at the cafe? Younghoon-hyung is making a mess for Kevin-ssi right about now, so I just thought you might want to come fix that. Yeah, yup, no problem, bye hyung.”

Changmin doesn’t know how he ever had the nerve to think Sunwoo was just a brat before. “Kim Sunwoo, what the heck was that? You’re so freaking scary.”

“Thanks.” Sunwoo grins. “Okay, I’m going to go collect Jaehyun-hyung before he pulls something stupid, I hope y’all enjoyed the show. Also, Changmin-hyung, you’ll see Hyunjoon can be scary if he wants too, if he hasn’t done anything like that for you, yet.”

And with that parting remark, Sunwoo just gives Hyunjoon a high five and leaves towards Jaehyun.

With everything that’s happened in the last 10 minutes, Changmin is hoping that’s the end of it, but a girl comes up towards their table not 5 minutes later and immediately, Changmin is pasting his personal brand of customer service smile on.

“Um, you’re Q-nim, aren’t you?” She asks, blushing shyly. Changmin can see Hyunjoon frowning in his periphery.

“Yes, I am, what can I do for you?” He’s done with drama for today and he definitely doesn’t want to find out what Sunwoo meant by saying Hyunjoon could be scary.

“Oh! Um, if it’s not too much trouble, I was wondering if I could get your number-”

“No,” Hyunjoon interrupts smoothly, wraps an arm around Changmin’s and leans on his shoulder. “He’s taken now. I know it probably took a lot of courage to come up here, I can see your table waiting for you back there, but he won’t be giving his number out to anyone one now.”

Changmin is completely unprepared for the way Hyunjoon takes his chin in hand and kisses him _hard_ right in front of her, but when the girl stutters out an apology and runs back to her friends, Changmin can’t find it in himself to be mortified because the feel of Hyunjoon’s mouth on his is foreign and wonderful and heat rises to his cheeks as he kisses back Hyunjoon’s furious claim with assurance of his own, _don’t worry, I don’t think I could ever leave you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah~, I'm really satisfied with this chapter. Like, I'm satisfied in ways I haven't been since Sunwoo and Hyunjae's chapter came up. Ah, this makes me so happy, I'm so happy, did you know crying is good for your soul? I haven't been this happy in forever, ugh. I think it made for a good chapter. I hope you all love this chapter as much as I do. Have a wonderful day and remember it's okay to take a step away from anything stressful if you need to! Go out and enjoy the sun or stay in and read a book or listen to music or whatever! It's a beautiful day today!


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